UN peacekeeper killed in Central Africa in alleged LRA attack

New York - A UN peacekeeper from Morocco was killed in the Central African Republic while on patrol near a village that came under attack, allegedly by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army, a UN spokesperson said Monday.

The soldier was shot on Sunday in southeastern Mbomou prefecture, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killing and said attacks against those working for peace in the Central African Republic were "unacceptable."

The peacekeeper was killed in the town of Rafai where he had been dispatched in response to an attack on the nearby village of Agoumar by the suspected LRA rebels.

Human rights groups have said that LRA rebels are active in the Central African Republic and have kidnapped more than 200 people just this year, a quarter of them children.

In February, a, LRA commander, Okot Odek, was captured and handed over to US forces by a faction of the Seleka rebels in CAR.

The Central African peacekeeping operation, known as MINUSCA, numbers about 12 600 foreign police and soldiers, as well as more than 500 foreign civilians.