Africa takes over rebel city and opens key route to capital

The government of the Central African Republic said on Thursday that its army, along with its Russian and Rwandan allies, had recaptured a western border town from the rebels, reopening a key supply route blocked since December.

A rebel alliance leading an offensive against the government had cut off the capital, including much-awaited aid languishing on the Cameroonian border, but pro-government forces recently captured a series of towns along the road to the capital. Bangui.

“After the towns of Boali, Bossembele, Bossemptele, Yaloke and Bouar, the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) and their Russian and Rwandan allies liberated the town of Beloko, thus opening the national road to Cameroon,” the government said. on Facebook.

“We will therefore ensure the movement of people and goods in both directions on the Bangui-Beloko axis in complete safety,” Prime Minister Firmin Ngrebada said on Facebook.

Six of the country’s most powerful armed groups – which controlled about two-thirds of the country – joined forces in mid-December to launch an offensive against the government of President Faustin Archange Touadera.

The offensive planned to disrupt the December elections, but they did go ahead and Touadera was reelected.

The rebels announced their intention to “march on Bangui” and reached its outskirts on January 13, but were pushed back and sought to cut off the capital, according to the United Nations.

The rebels then seized several towns and carried out attacks along the more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) of national roads.

Aid trucks wait at the border

But the rebels faced a stronger opponent than expected.

Along with 12,000 UN MINUSCA force peacekeepers in the country since 2014, Rwandan soldiers and Russian paramilitaries were deployed at the end of December to bolster Touadera’s government and the struggling army.

Since the end of January, pro-government forces have embarked on a counter-offensive aimed at clearing the road to the border and allowing aid to be delivered.

Bangui has not suffered from significant shortages, but the prices of imported products such as flour and onions have skyrocketed.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 1,600 trucks, including 500 with humanitarian aid, are stranded at the Cameroonian border.

Almost all of the goods imported by the landlocked country, ranked second in the world according to the UN Human Development Index, arrive by road from Cameroon.

According to OCHA, some 57 percent of the country’s population, or around 4.9 million people, will need assistance and protection this year.

On Monday, the first aid convoy was able to reach Bangui under the escort of UN peacekeepers after the 50-day blockade.

The rebels, on the defensive after losing several towns, said on Wednesday they would temporarily allow humanitarian convoys to pass through Bangui.

“Contacts and negotiations have taken place with humanitarian providers to exceptionally open a humanitarian corridor for NGOs,” the rebel alliance Coalition of Patriots for Change said in a statement.

While the road has been reclaimed by the army and its allies, humanitarian convoys have not yet left and the threat of rebel ambushes remains.