The fourth city of the Central African Republic, Bambari, some 380 km northeast of Bangui, is "under the control" of peacekeepers and internal security forces after it was taken Tuesday by rebels, said Wednesday (December 23rd). UN.
"The situation is under control in Bambari," said Abdoulaziz Fall, spokesperson for the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (Minusca).
"Civilians are starting to return. The armed groups have been pushed back into the bush," he added at a press conference in Bangui.
>> To see: In the Central African Republic, tensions six days before the presidential and legislative elections
The day before, Bambari had fallen into the hands of the Unit for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC), one of the many armed groups that share more than two-thirds of the country and among those who have gone into rebellion ahead of the presidential and legislative elections. scheduled for Sunday, with the outgoing Faustin-Archange Touadéra as his favorite.
Many looting
The government accused ex-president François Bozizé, whose presidential candidacy was invalidated, of "attempted coup".
"The city is under the control of armed groups. There was no violence against the inhabitants, but they looted the police station, the gendarmerie and the homes of individuals," Abel Matchipata, mayor, told AFP. from Bambari.
In the west of the country, three other armed groups, which have formed a coalition, also attacked, on Tuesday, vital roads for supplying the capital.
But President Touadéra and the UN maintain that the elections will take place on Sunday, as scheduled.
With AFP
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