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.

Both the FPRC and the UPC have their origin in the former Séléka alliance. The Séléka was led by Michel Djotodia and was formed by different rebel groups from the northeast with a common enemy in former president Bozize and the anti-Balaka, and they had a common religion being Muslims. The ex-Séléka had large issues of keeping all of the different rebel groups together, and in the effort to keep the groups unified they reshaped themselves into the FPRC. This effort failed however, and among several other splinter groups, the UPC Ali Darass Fulani Supporters broke away from the FPRC in 2014.

In November 2016 the two groups clashed over the control of roads leading to diamond mines, and over the possibility to take taxes from these roads, and from different migration routes for Fulani (Peuhl) herders.

The non-state conflict between the FPRC and the UPC (Ali Darass Fulani supporters) was first included in UCDP data in 2017. In late March of the year, clashes between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.