• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

UN Says Seized C.African Town Under Peacekeepers’ Control

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
12/23/20
in World
Peacekeeping soldiers in the Central African Republic.

Peacekeeping soldiers heading towards Boali, a town on the key RN1 highway where rebels had clashed with security forces. Photo Alexis Huguet / AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Central African Republic’s fourth-largest town, which was seized by rebels Tuesday ahead of elections this weekend, is back in the hands of UN peacekeepers and national security forces, the UN said Wednesday.

The rebel attacks followed government accusations at the weekend that ex-president Francois Bozize was plotting a coup with armed groups ahead of presidential and legislative elections next Sunday.

“The situation in Bambari is under control,” Abdoulaziz Fall, spokesman for the UN’s peacekeeping force in the CAR, told a news conference in the capital Bangui.

“The civilians are starting to return. The armed groups have been pushed back into the bush.”

At the CAR’s request, Russia and Rwanda have sent “hundreds” of military personnel to support the troubled country, the government says, an account confirmed by those countries.

Bambari is located 240 miles northeast of Bangui.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone Wednesday with CAR counterpart Faustin-Archange Touadera and afterwards, at the latter’s behest, ordered French fighter jets to overfly the country to “show France’s condemnnation of attempts at destabilisation”, the Elysee Palace said.

The overfly by three Chad-based French planes was with the agreement of the UN peacekeeping mission.

Macron’s office said he condemned “attempts by armed groups and certain political leaders, including Francois Bozize, which seek to obstruct the implementation of peace accords and the holding of elections”.

Macron underlined “France’s unwavering commitment alongside CAR authorities and the people of CAR to contribute to efforts to stabilize the country”, where France currently has a 300-strong troop contingent, backing up the 11,500-strong UN mission MINUSCA.

Members of a militia called Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC) overran the town on Tuesday after a two-hour firefight with  MINUSCA troops, sources said.

The town mayor said Tuesday that civilians had not been attacked, but the police station, gendarmerie and some homes had been ransacked.

The UN’s Human Rights Office warned on Wednesday it was “deeply alarmed” by reports of escalating violence, which it said posed a grave threat to lives and the elections.

The CAR is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world, experiencing only rare moments of peace since independence from France in 1960.

Some panic

On Saturday, the government said three armed groups had formed an alliance and were advancing on highways to Bangui in a plot fomented by Bozize. MINUSCA said late Sunday that the advance had been halted or rolled back.

But on Tuesday armed groups attacked the road arteries, notably at Boali, a town 37 miles from the capital, prompting an exodus by women and children, sources there said.

Several pickup trucks arrived in Bangui later, laden with wounded, AFP reporters saw.

“There was some panic among the public (in Bangui) this morning,” General Driss Oukaddour, commander of MINUSCA’S Bangui Joint Task Force, told AFP on Wednesday.

But, he insisted, “Bangui is calm, we are in charge of the situation.”

Food supplies to the capital depend on the RN1 highway linking the city to Cameroon, and security on the road swiftly affects prices of staples such as manioc.

Weak government

Bozize, who denies the government’s allegations, came to power in a coup in 2003 before he himself was overthrown in 2013, in a conflict that largely mirrored the CAR’s sectarian divisions.

The 74-year-old former general slipped back into the country in December 2019 after years in exile, sparking fears of a comeback.

He retains a large following, especially among the Gbaya ethnic group, the country’s largest, and has many supporters in the army. 

Bozize has been barred from contesting Sunday’s elections by the CAR’s top court as he is the target of a 2014 arrest warrant for alleged murder and torture and is under UN sanctions.

His absence has left Touadera, 63, as clear frontrunner in the 17-strong field of presidential candidates.

But Touadera’s government remains weak and the armed forces are poorly-equipped and -trained and remain heavily dependent on MINUSCA.

Despite a peace deal between the government and armed groups in February 2019, the country remains wracked by violence.

Militias hold sway over two-thirds of the territory, deriving income from mining and forced payments at roadblocks and on traders.

Thousands of people have died in the last seven years, and nearly a quarter of the population of 4.7 million have fled their homes.

Genevieve, a shop worker in Bangui, said, “I am worried for our country because rebels are coming, we’re afraid for our children.”

A security guard who gave his name as Mathias, said the situation was hopeless in a country where “only bandits” get by.

Attacks on Religious Leaders in West and Central Africa Must Be Addressed

African Regimes Are Using COVID-19 to Stifle the Third Wave of Protests

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Children and families flee their neighbourhoods amid fighting in Khartoum, Sudan
World

‘Frighteningly Large Number of Children’ Killed in Sudan: UN

by Staff Writer
May 5, 2023
People cool off with a fountain's water during a heat wave in Seville, Spain
Environment

UN Confirms 2022 Among Eight Hottest Years on Record

by Staff Writer
January 13, 2023
Mario Draghi
Business

EU Leaders Clash Over How to Tackle Energy Prices

by Staff Writer
October 20, 2022
Sudan clashes
World

Death Toll in Sudan’s Ethnic Clashes Rises to 13: UN

by Staff Writer
October 17, 2022
Julien Bayo
Featured

French Left Under Pressure Over Violence Against Women

by Staff Writer
September 21, 2022
Taliban fighters
Featured

UN Expert Decries ‘Systematic’ Attacks on Afghan Shiites

by Staff Writer
September 12, 2022
Next Post
Tunisian civil protection workers

Bodies of 20 Migrants Retrieved Off Tunisia, Ministry Says

Hydroxychloroquine

Three Women Scientists Speak Out Against Cyberbullying

Recommended

A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

May 26, 2023
Customers queue to enter a re-opened Zara clothes shop

EU Targets Fast Fashion in Push for Durable Goods

May 23, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

May 16, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Panel Recommends Nonprescription Use of Contraception Pill

US Panel Recommends Nonprescription Use of Contraception Pill

May 11, 2023

Opinion

A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Folly 

April 24, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives

‘Cringy Awards:’ Who Is the Most Embarrassing US House Representative?

February 13, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post