Government troops deploy in Bouar military base

A garrison of Central African Republic troops, trained and supplied by France, has taken over operations at the former French military base of Bouar, 400 km west of Bangui, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Sunday, citing state radio. The base officially opened on Saturday as part of an ongoing defence and security restructuring exercise in the country, following the installation of an eastern base at Bria in March, it said. Ninety soldiers from the 3rd Intervention Battalion, and equipped with ultra-light reconnaissance planes in addition to conventional assault and support hardware, will be stationed at Bouar, AFP reported.

France has backed the retraining of the army while pulling its own troops out of CAR. The consolidation of the military base at Bouar is intended to allow the government to deal with the problem of bandits who are active in tracts of the country and are blamed for major hold-ups, atrocities and public order offences. “An increasingly dangerous situation is being caused by the relentless attacks of armed bandits, which disrupts the safe movement of people and goods, not only within the country but also along roads connecting CAR with its neighbours.

Scores of innocent people have been killed by these bandits,” Kofi Annan reported to the UN Security Council on Monday.