Rebel attack kills 11 in East Africa (official)

Eleven civilians were killed by rebels in eastern Central African Republic (CAR), where government forces are fighting armed groups, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The attack occurred Tuesday near Bambari, RCA’s fourth town, when three cars came under fire, leaving “11 dead and six injured,” said Saturnin Nicaise Grepandet, sub-prefect of the region. .

A provisional death toll had previously reported seven dead, while aid workers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 15 people had died.

Central African Republic. By (AFP)

CAR, a landlocked and poverty stricken country in the heart of Africa, has been in the throes of brutal conflict since 2013 when its then president, François Bozizé, was overthrown by an armed group mainly from the Muslim minority. .

The coup sparked a bloodbath with the so-called “anti-Balaka,” a force drawn mainly from Christian and animist communities.

Bozizé’s elected successor, Faustin Archange Touadera, has struggled to exercise control and entire swathes of the country remain in the hands of armed groups.

In Bambari, a town 380 kilometers (240 miles) east of the capital Bangui, rebels from the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC), one of the region’s largest armed groups, recently killed two government soldiers.

Authorities extended a curfew on October 1 in response to deteriorating security.

A coalition of six rebel groups last December advanced on Bangui in the run-up to presidential elections, but was thwarted after Russia and Rwanda rushed to militarily support Touadera.

A UN report released in March said hundreds of human rights violations and abuses had been documented over the previous year, killing at least 1,221, including 144 civilians.

Some of these cases are attributable to the Central African armed forces and to “private military personnel”, he said, referring to the Russian paramilitaries.

The Central African government, in a report released last Friday, admitted some abuse had been committed by “Russian instructors,” but argued the rebels were to blame in most cases.