BANGUI, 22 January, 2021, (TON): The Central African Republic on Thursday announced a 15-day emergency as armed groups tried to blockade the capital Bangui in a bid to topple newly re-elected President Faustin Archange Touadera.

State of emergency was declared on Thursday to help crack down on armed groups, as the United Nations’ envoy to CAR called for the deployment of many more peacekeepers in response to a recent surge in attacks.

The country "is at serious risk of a security and peacebuilding setback," envoy Mankeur Ndiaye said in an address to the UN Security Council.

Ndiaye said a substantial rise in the number of soldiers would help the mission on the ground, but did not mention how many more troops would be needed.

Government spokesman Albert Yaloke said in a statement that the state of emergency, which will last 15 days, lets the authorities fast-track arrests by allowing the military to detain suspects without going through a prosecutor.

Attacks on supply convoys by militia groups and their political allies, including former president Francois Bozize, are risking supplies of food, medicine and resources for services such as hospitals, said Vladimir Monteiro, spokesman for the UN's mission, known as MINUSCA.

The rebels launched two simultaneous attacks on Bangui on January 13^th, but were rebuffed by MINUSCA, which has been present in the country since 2014.

"Since the thwarted offensive of the 13th, there haven't been any other attacks, just incidents linked to the curfew," said lieutenant-colonel Abdoulaziz Fall, one of the MINUSCA spokesmen.

The country of 4.7 million has been struggling to stabilize due to successive waves of violence since 2013 that have killed thousands and forced more than a million leaving their homes.

Seven peacekeepers have been killed in the weeks-long surge of violence.