Background history of the conflict

The Central African Republic (CAR) civil war is a result of the CAR Bush war, which was a war mainly between government forces and Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels, but many other small rebels groups were involved in the conflict as well. 

The rebellion started after François Bozizé seized presidency in 2003 and the armed conflict started the following year. During the conlfict, rebel forces seized several cities in North-Eastern CAR and tens of thousands of civilians were displaced or had to flee. Thousands of houses were burned and hundreds of civilians were killed. On the 13th of april 2007 a peace agreement was signed between the UFDR and the government recognising the UFDR as a political party and allowing their forces into the army. Further negotiations led to local elections in 2009 and parliamentary elections in 2010 and presidential elections in 2011 .