CEMAC peacekeeping force deploys in the north

The peacekeeping force of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa States (known by its French acronym, CEMAC), has launched its operations in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR), where insecurity has persisted since October 2002, a CEMAC official told IRIN in the capital, Bangui, on Saturday. "After realising that the security situation had improved in Bangui, we started the second phase of our mission by sending two thirds of our troops to the north," Rear Admiral Martin Mavoungou, the commander-in-chief of the CEMAC force, said. He added that since 13 July, troops had been patrolling the towns of Bossangoa, 305 km north of Bangui; Markounda, 600 km north of Bangui; Paoua, 506 km north of Bangui; Ngaoundaye, 600 km northwest of Bangui; Bozoum, 384 km northwest of Bangui and Bocaranga, 510 km northwest of Bangui. "Our mission in the north consists of disarming those holding arms illegally, neutralising armed groups such as highwaymen and dissuading other trouble makers," Mavoungou said. He added that such missions would be "recurrent and frequent", to facilitate humanitarian operations in the war-ravaged north. Fighting between government and rebel forces between October 2002 and March 2003 took place in the north, where the majority of the population were until recently still hesitating to return home due to insecurity. Humanitarian NGOs have complained that instability has prevented them from reaching the northernmost parts of the country, where uncontrolled armed groups, believed to be former fighters of the current leader, Francois Bozize, had taken advantage of the absence of the army to terrorise the population. Bozize ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse in a coup on 15 March, ending the six months of rebellion. Mavoungou, who on Friday met with the minister in charge of public security, Col Paulin Bondeboli, said that authorities had been waiting for CEMAC forces to be dispatched before asking governors and other government officials to return to the provinces. Last week, soldiers and governors began their deployment in most towns in the north, to reassure the population. Mavoungou said he had asked Bondeboli to call a meeting of Bangui neighbourhood leaders to seek their support in maintaining order and security in the capital so that CEMAC forces could deploy the maximum of troops to the countryside. "Each mission is carried out to the detriment of the other," Mavoungou said. Present in the CAR since December 2002 to protect Patasse, restructure the army and secure the CAR-Chad border, the CEMAC force was reinforced with a 121-man Chadian contingent and given a new mandate on 2 June by CEMAC heads of state. "The new mandate includes defence and combat missions when faced with any kind of aggression," Mavoungou said. With the Chadian contingent, the force reached the strength of 380 men, including 139 Gabonese and 120 Republic of Congo troops. Mavoungou said the force was too small for the mission to which it had been assigned. The force is now mandated to secure and defend Bangui and provincial towns, to secure the major transportation routes, to patrol the north, to disarm unauthorised individuals and to restructure the CAR armed forces. Mavoungou said that Equatorial Guinea, which withdrew its 31-man contingent soon after the 15 March coup, had agreed to finance the army's restructuring programme. Mavoungou said that Cameroon had agreed to contribute military instructors for this effort.