ZCZC
BFF-43
CAFRICA-UNREST-REBELS-PEACE-SUDAN
C. Africa: 14 armed groups for one poor country
LIBREVILLE, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The Central African Republic’s
government and 14 militias that hold sway over most of the country inked a
peace agreement in Khartoum Tuesday — the eighth since violence broke out in
2012.
Armed groups hold territory of varying sizes, seized since a 2013 coup that
ousted president Francois Bozize and plunged the country in a deep and
prolonged crisis.
In all, the armed groups control about 80 percent of the CAR.
The armed forces and a UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSCA, work to prevent
daily violence. With some 11,650 troops and 2,080 police deployed, according
to the United Nations, MINUSCA’s top priority is to protect civilians.
The largely Muslim Seleka (“alliance”) coalition that toppled General
Bozize was officially dissolved in 2013.
Two former Seleka self-proclaimed generals have since formed influential
movements: the Popular Front for the Renaissance of the Central African
Republic (FPRC) and the Unity for Peace in Central African Republic (UPC).
– Powerful groups from Seleka –
The FPRC is led politically by Noureddine Adam, while Abdoulaye Hissene
is the military chief. Both men are under UN sanctions. The force is based in
the far north of the CAR, including the towns of Birao and Ndele, but its
influence extends southwards via Kaga Bandoro to Bria, a central region rich
in mineral resources.
Commanded by Ali Darassa, the UPC is based in the heart of the country, at
Alindao and Bambari. The group battled the FPRC for control of central CAR
until October 2017, when they signed a pact to cease hostilities and became
allies.
A third former Seleka general retains considerable influence: Mahamat Al-
Khatim, a native of neighbouring Chad who in 2015 founded the Central African
Patriotic Movement (MPC).
Allied with both the FPRC and the UPC, the MPC is based at Kabo and along
the Chadian border in the north.
– Scattered anti-Balaka forces –
The “anti-Balaka” militia groups that emerged in largely Christian
communities as a response to the capture of Bangui by Seleka forces declared
that their main role was “self-defence”.
Today, these militias are divided into two branches.
One is led by Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, a former “coordinator” of armed
groups, who retains influence though he was transferred early in January to
the International Criminal Court in The Hague on suspicion of war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
Ngaissona is considered close to Bozize, who is living in exile.
The other branch of anti-Balaka forces is led by Maxime Mokom, who is under
US sanctions and formed an alliance with former Seleka groups in 2015,
signing an alliance in Nairobi.
This opportunistic pact gave the two parties control over a large swathe of
territory and also included the armed Patriotic Rally for the Renewal of the
Central African Republic (RPRC), a small group based at Bria in diamond
country.
– On the cattle trails –
In the west and northwest, armed groups with a few hundred fighters at
most are installed along the routes taken by cattle herders on seasonal
migrations across the borders of Chad and Cameroon.
They include the Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R) movement created
in 2016 by Abass Sidiki in the Nana-Mambete district.
The groups Revolution justice (RJ) and the National Movement for the
Liberation of the Central African Republic (MNLC) led by ex-Seleka officer
Ahmat Bahar, are also active in the zone, rich in gold and diamonds, together
with the Democratic Front of the Central African People (FPDC).
BSS/AFP/RY/20:12 hrs