Fresh violence erupted on Monday in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) where 50,000 civilians displaced by previous fighting are surviving on wild foods including roots, officials said.
Government troops engaged rebel forces that attacked Paoua town, in Ouham-Penda Province, in the early hours of Monday morning, presidential spokesman, Cyriaque Gondu said in the capital Bangui.
"Fighting is still going on as I talk to you although the army was getting the upper hand," Gondu explained, adding that the rebels were still holding out at the nearby village of Maitikoulou.
Paoua town has come under attack several times over the last year. In October, the army burnt down 10 villages stretching from Kebe to Beboura, leaving about 50,000 people homeless, in an attempt to flush out the l’Armée populaire pour la restauration de la république et la démocratie (APRD) rebels.
The group, headed by renegade Lt Bedaya N’Djadder, has over the past two years attacked and seized control of several towns in the CAR. The October attack left almost all Paoua's 80,000 residents displaced.
"Most of the people in the region are living in the bush surviving on wild roots," Jean-Charles Dei, head of the United Nations World Food Programme in CAR said.
Before that, rebels had struck the town in January 2006 stealing military equipment from the regular army. Government troops retaliated. Apollinaire Dondon Konamambaye, the local member of parliament, said 104 people, including civilians, were killed in that attack. The deaths were confirmed by the CAR Red Cross.
Local leaders say violence has resurfaced in the region at a time when the CAR authorities have agreed to negotiate with rebel groups in the country.
Last week, the leader of a consultation group advocating for national dialogue said all rebel groups were scheduled to work towards peace and reconciliation. Pastor Isaac Zokoe added that the APRD rebel group was one of these groups.
Another group, the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity, had also agreed to suspend its military operations, he added. Since September 2005, when rebellion broke out in CAR, the insurgents have demanded a power-sharing deal.
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