The Central African Republic Civil War is an ongoing civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR) involving the successive governments, rebels from the former Séléka coalition, the Anti-balaka militias, and various foreign and international forces.

In the preceding Central African Bush War (2004–2007), the government of President François Bozizé fought with rebels until a peace agreement in 2007. The current conflict arose when a new coalition of varied rebel groups, known as Séléka, accused the government of failing to abide by the peace agreements, captured many towns in 2012 and seized the capital in 2013. Bozizé fled the country, and the rebel leader Michel Djotodia declared himself president. Renewed fighting began between Séléka and militias opposed to them called Anti-balaka. In September 2013, President Djotodia disbanded the Séléka coalition, which had lost its unity after taking power, and resigned in 2014. He was replaced by Catherine Samba-Panza, but the conflict continued. In July 2014, ex-Séléka factions and Anti-balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement. By the end of 2014, the country was de facto partitioned with the Anti-Balaka controlling the south and west, from which most Muslims had evacuated, and ex-Séléka groups controlling the north and east. Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who was elected president in 2016, ran and won the 2020 election, which triggered the main rebel factions to form an alliance opposed to the election called the Coalition of Patriots for Change, which was coordinated by former president Bozizé. Peacekeeping largely transitioned from the ECCAS-led MICOPAX to the African Union-led MISCA to the United Nations-led MINUSCA, while the French peacekeeping mission was known as Operation Sangaris. In July 2025, a peace agreement was achieved, in which 3R and UPC, the two largest remaining rebel groups, disarmed and dissolved in a public ceremony.

Much of the tension is over religious identity between Muslim Séléka and Christian Anti-balaka, and ethnic differences among ex-Séléka factions, and historical antagonism between agriculturalists, who largely comprise Anti-balaka, and nomadic groups, who constitute most Séléka fighters. Other contributing factors include the struggle for control of diamonds and other resources in the resource-rich country and for influence among regional powers such as Chad, Sudan and Rwanda and foreign powers such as France and Russia. More than 1.1 million people have fled their homes in a country of about 5 million people, the highest ever recorded in the country.

The peacekeeping force Multinational Force in the Central African Republic (FOMUC) was formed in October 2002 by the regional economic community Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

After François Bozizé seized power in 2003, the Central African Bush War (2004–2007) began with the rebellion by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) in northeastern CAR, led by Michel Djotodia. During this conflict, the UFDR rebel forces also fought with several other rebel groups including the Group of Patriotic Action for the Liberation of Central Africa (GAPLC), the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP), the People's Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD), the Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice (MLCJ), and the Democratic Front of the Central African People (FDPC). Tens of thousands of people were displaced by the unrest, which continued until 2007, with rebel forces seizing several cities during the conflict.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 April 2007, a peace agreement between the government and the UFDR was signed in Birao. The agreement provided for an amnesty for the UFDR, its recognition as a political party, and the integration of its fighters into the army. Further negotiations resulted in a Libreville Global Peace Accord agreement in 2008 for reconciliation, a unity government, local elections in 2009 and parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010. The new unity government that resulted was formed in January 2009. On 12 July 2008, with the waning of the Central African Bush War, the larger overlapping regional economic community to CEMAC called the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), replaced FOMUC, whose mandate was largely restricted to security, with the Central African Peacebuilding Mission (MICOPAX), who had a broader peace building mandate.

Rebel groups alleged that Bozizé had not followed the terms of the 2007 agreement and that there continued to be political abuses, especially in the northern part of the country, such as "torture and illegal executions".

In August 2012 a peace agreement was signed between the government and the CPJP. On 20 August 2012, an agreement was signed between a dissident faction of the CPJP, led by Colonel Hassan Al Habib calling itself Fundamental CPJP, and the Patriotic Convention for Saving the Country (CPSK). Al Habib announced that, in protest of the peace agreement, the Fundamental CPJP was launching an offensive dubbed "Operation Charles Massi", in memory of the CPJP founder who was allegedly tortured and murdered by the government, and that his group intended to overthrow Bozizé. In September, Fundamental CPJP, using the French name Alliance CPSK-CPJP, took responsibility for attacks on the towns of Sibut, Damara and Dekoa, killing two members of the army. It claimed that it had killed two additional members of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) in Damara, capturing military and civilian vehicles, weapons including rockets, and communications equipment, and launched unsuccessful assault on a fourth town, Grimari, and promised more operations in the future. Mahamath Isseine Abdoulaye, president of the pro-government CPJP faction, countered that the CPJP was committed to the peace agreement and the attacks were the work of Chadian rebels, saying this group of "thieves" would never be able to march on Bangui. Al Habib was killed by FACA on 19 September in Daya, a town north of Dekoa.