There was also widespread looting in Bangui and other provinces and the police created the Squad for the Repression of Banditry, which had the power to execute criminals the day after their apprehension.

In December 1996, Patassé asked the Presidents of Gabon, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali to mediate a truce between the government and rebel forces.

It consisted of around 800 troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Mali, Senegal and Togo, besides logistic and financial support from France.

The efforts were welcomed by the United Nations Security Council with Resolution 1125 in August 1997, which authorised the presence of the force for a period of three months.

[1][3][7][8] The peacekeeping force, which had a strength of 1350, was assembled by 15 April 1998 and comprised soldiers from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, France, Gabon, Mali, Portugal, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

Even though disarmament was not explicitly mentioned in its mandate, MINURCA continued MISAB's policy of storing and disposing of weapons collected from dissidents.