SUMMARY

Ethnicity, religion, livelihood, and political affiliation have all played important parts for conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR). The main division has been between “northerners” and “southerners”. Northerners are generally Muslim and herders, southerners are generally Christian and farmers. The conflict between the anti-Balaka and the UPC follows from the conflict between anti-Balaka - FPRC, since the UPC, led by Ali Darass and Mahmat al-Khatim, broke away from the FPRC in September 2014 and started to fight the anti-Balaka on their own. The anti-Balaka consisted of groups of vigilantes, farmers, and Christian defense militias, and the UPC sprung out of the ex-Séléka alliance that supported Michel Djotodia, consisted of different Muslim rebel groups from the north-east of CAR. In addition to the fighters and supporters of Ali Darass and al-Khatim, the UPC also enjoyed the support from many members of the Fulani people in CAR. (Worth noting is that Mahmat al-Khatim later broke away from the UPC in the summer of 2015 and started a new splinter group called the MPC.)

The non-state conflict between the anti-Balaka and the UPC was first included in UCDP data in 2014. After sporadic clashes in October the two groups fought for two days in mid-December in Mbrès town in the Nana-Grébizi province of the CAR, which resulted in the death of 28 people.