The armed forces of the Central African Republic and their allies attacked rebels who are trying to blockade the capital Bangui and topple the regime of President Faustin Archange Touadéra, killing 44 of them, the government announced on Monday (December 25th).
On December 17, the six most powerful armed groups that had occupied two-thirds of the Central African Republic in civil war for eight years allied themselves in the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), then announced on the 19th, eight days before the presidential and legislative elections, an offensive aimed at preventing the re-election of President Touadéra.
But they came up against forces far superior in number and heavily equipped: some 12,000 peacekeepers from the peacekeeping force of the UN mission in the Central African Republic (Minusca) present since 2014, but also hundreds of Rwandan soldiers and Russian paramilitaries sent at the end of December by their countries to the rescue of Faustin Archange Touadéra and a destitute army.
"Offensive"
"Offensive of the Faca (Armed Forces of the Central African Republic) and allied forces of Boyali (village located 90 km from Bangui, Editor's note). Appraisal: RAS side friends. Enemy sides: 3 prisoners sent to Bangui and 44 dead including several Chadian and Sudanese mercenaries and Fulani, "the government said on Facebook on Monday 25 January.
The Central African authorities generally refer to the Rwandan military and Russian paramilitaries as "allied forces".
This government announcement could not be confirmed by independent sources.
"The government forces are back on the offensive," government spokesman Ange-Maxime Kazagui told AFP.
The town of Boda, located 124 km from Bangui, has also been "taken over by the authorities and the negative forces have fled in various directions. As we speak, the Faca and the gendarmerie are in the town, and the Russians. are with our Faca "announced Ange-Maxime Kazagui.
Since the start of their offensive in December, the CPC rebels have, according to the UN, sought to "suffocate" the capital by cutting off the three main roads leading to it.
Emergency state
The rebels carry out sporadic but sometimes violent attacks, usually far from the capital, although two simultaneous attacks of around 200 assailants were repulsed on January 13 in Bangui.
On January 21, the government declared a state of emergency for a period of 15 days throughout the territory to allow "the authorities to make arrests without necessarily going through the public prosecutor", had specified to AFP the spokesperson for the presidency.
The UN envoy to the Central African Republic, Mankeur Ndiaye, called on the Security Council for a "substantial increase" in the number of peacekeepers deployed in the country.
The demand for an increase in the Minusca contingent should also help President Touadéra, recently re-elected with 53.16% of the vote but after a ballot where two out of three voters did not vote, mainly for security reasons. , to assert his authority, while the UN representative in the Central African Republic deplored a "great desertion" since December of the Central African security forces.
Mankeur Ndiaye did not specify the number of additional peacekeepers desired for the Minusca which already represents, with 12,000 men, one of the largest and most expensive UN operations in the world.
The envoy warned the Security Council that "the threat could last", while Minusca has already lost seven peacekeepers since the start of the rebel offensive.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR