Human Rights Watch yesterday said a 14-year-old and an 18-year-old alleged that peacekeepers gang-raped them near the airport in Bambari, the country's second-largest city.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic said later yesterday it had identified seven new possible victims in Bambari in cases that Human Rights Watch brought to its attention.
The UN said the soldiers implicated in the cases are from the Republic of Congo and Congo.
A fact-finding expert sent to Bambari found "sufficient initial evidence" that five alleged victims were minors and had been sexually abused, and that one adult had been sexually exploited, the mission said. The expert was unable to interview the seventh alleged victim. One allegation by Human Rights Watch had been previously reported and is currently under investigation, the mission said.
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The new cases highlight concerns about peacekeeper abuse beyond the chaotic country's capital.
The UN mission in Central African Republic tweeted that there have been 13 cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers in Bambari since September 2014.
The UN has been unable to explain why so many rapes and other sexual abuse by peacekeepers have been alleged in Central African Republic, which has been gripped by deadly violence between Christians and Muslims since late 2013. Thousands of UN and other peacekeepers have been in the country since then.