• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
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

refugees
World

More Than 100 Million People Forcibly Displaced, UN Says

by Staff Writer
May 23, 2022
plastic
Environment

UN Agrees to Create ‘Historic’ Global Treaty on Plastic Trash

by Staff Writer
March 2, 2022
French soldiers in Mali
World

Mali Asks France to Pull Out Troops ‘Without Delay’

by Staff Writer
February 18, 2022
Humanitarian worker places a face mask on a child refugee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Opinion

As COVID-19 Lingers, Wealthy Nations Must Not Abandon Migrants

by Maria DeJesus
December 21, 2021
migrant boat tragedy
Refugees

31 Die in Deadliest Migrant Boat Tragedy Between France, UK

by Staff Writer
November 24, 2021
Rwanda genocide suspect
World

France Puts Former Driver on Trial Over Rwanda Genocide

by Staff Writer
November 19, 2021
Next Post
Tunisian civil protection workers

Bodies of 20 Migrants Retrieved Off Tunisia, Ministry Says

Hydroxychloroquine

Three Women Scientists Speak Out Against Cyberbullying

Recommended

Shireen Abu Akleh

US Says Al Jazeera Journalist Likely Shot by Israel But Not Intentionally

July 4, 2022
Google logo

Google to Pay $90 Mn in Settlement With App Developers

July 1, 2022
Mexico murdered journalists

Journalist Murdered in Mexico, 12th This Year

June 29, 2022
Spain migrants

Spain Prosecutor Opens Probe Into Melilla Migrant Deaths

June 28, 2022
Afghan refugees

Pakistani Migrants in Afghanistan Caught in Quake No-Man’s Land

June 27, 2022
Joe Biden climate summit

Biden Calls Clean Energy Matter of National Security in Face of Russia War

June 17, 2022

Opinion

US President Donald Trump

Owning the Words and the Libs

June 16, 2022
Officers in Uvalde, Texas, stand outside Robb Elementary School near a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims

Child Sacrifice Makes a Comeback

June 3, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
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