Central African Republic: the armed forces retake the city of Bouar
The Central African armed forces (Faca) announced that they had taken over the city of Bouar on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. © FLORENT VERGNES / AFP
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2 min
On January 13, the CPC, a coalition of six of the country's most important armed groups, began a descent towards Bangui attempting to take the capital.
Since then, the Central African forces supported by their Russian and Rwandan partners have regained ground.
And on Tuesday, February 9, a particularly strategic city was taken over, the authorities announced.
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The Central African armed forces with their allied forces took over the town of Bouar, the country's first garrison town, on Tuesday morning.
Very quickly, photos of their presence at kilometer point 0 in the city were circulating.
Violent clashes took place there on January 9 and 17, pushing several thousand people to leave their homes.
And leading to the takeover of part of the city by armed coalition groups.
This is an important step for the control of the supply corridor.
The CPC
has concentrated its efforts there since mid-December preventing the movement of goods vehicles.
The stated goal of the rebellion: to suffocate the capital.
Until recently, a front line in Boali marked the position officially held by the legal forces.
But for a week, the forces have accelerated their advance on the corridor: Bossembele on the 4th, Yaloke on the 5th, Bossemptele on the 7th and Bouar on Tuesday.
A rapid advance but without much battle, the armed groups seem to withdraw in front of the advance of the regular forces.
This raises questions for some observers: is this an admission of weakness on the part of the coalition?
Or a repositioning strategy?
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Central African Republic