12 militiamen killed in Central African Republic
Officials in the Central African Republic (CAR) say a dozen members of an armed group have been killed in clashes with United Nations (UN) peacekeepers and government troops in the northeastern part of the country.
Ange-Maxime Kazagui, the CAR’s government spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the fighting had occurred two days earlier, when the so-called Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa (FPRC) entered the flashpoint town of Birao before being repelled.
“The toll is 12 dead on the FPRC’s side,” Kazagui said.
The UN force in the African country also confirmed in a statement that “heavily armed” FPRC fighters had entered the town and were later pushed back.
The FPRC is one of the largest armed groups in the CAR, a land-locked impoverished country where militia groups control most of the territory, often fighting for control over resources.
Birao was also the scene of clashes between the FPRC and the Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice (MLCJ) — which is mainly drawn from the Kara ethnic group — last July.
Both the FPRC and MLCJ militia groups are among the signatories of a February 2019 peace agreement between the CAR government and armed groups wreaking havoc in the African country.
Thousands of people have been killed and nearly a quarter of the CAR’s population of 4.7 million has been displaced by conflict since 2013.
Complicating the situation in the mineral-rich country is meddling by its former colonial master, France, which decided to push the Muslim Seleka group out and install the anti-Balaka militia comprised of Christians.
Some 11,000 UN peacekeepers are deployed to the country since 2014 within the framework of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
People protest outside US embassy in Burkina Faso over interference
Niger: Russian military deployed at airbase housing American troops
Protesters try to stop UK police from removing migrants for Rwanda transfer
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | How Iran shook Israel
Malaysia's PM condemns West’s ‘sheer hypocrisy’ over Gaza genocide
NATO scrambled 240 fighter jets to shield Israel against Iran's strikes: Top Cmdr.
Pro-Palestine protests: Raeisi slams West's claims on human rights advocacy
VIDEO | Suppressing anti-war sentiments
Pro-Palestinian activists increasingly facing prosecution across Canada
VIDEO | Hezbollah launches massive rocket attack after deadly Israeli strike
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
