30 Central African Republic Soldiers Surrounded By Rebels In Mbomou Call For Assistance
The soldiers have been under siege and are calling for help as they are without arms to confront the rebels.
Thirty soldiers of the Central African Republic national army, FACA, who were recently attacked by rebels of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) in Nzako in the Mbomou prefecture have been encircled by the rebels and are calling for assistance.
“Nobody is willing to go and assist them. The government is unwilling to go to their rescue; neither are the Russian mercenaries ready to go help them. Even the military high command seems to be deaf to their pleas,” a local administration official who opted for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation told HumAngle.
On Saturday, May 21, 2022 morning, the base of FACA in Mbomou prefecture was attacked by CPC rebels.
Eleven soldiers were killed and one other captured.
The other FACA soldiers who escaped retreated to a nearby small village far from town.
“These soldiers have been encircled by CPC rebels in that small enclave without arms to fight their way out and have since been calling on the Russian mercenaries or their FACA colleagues to come to their assistance but to no avail. It is the villagers who now feed them,” the source revealed.
Meanwhile, three days after the attack, on Tuesday, May 24, Russian mercenaries supported by 10 FACA soldiers left Bria to Nzako but have since not descended on the small village where the FACA soldiers are holed-up, to free them.
None of the encircled FACA soldiers is familiar with the region and they find it difficult to trace their way out especially as they are not even armed. On the contrary, the CPC rebels are natives of the region and know the area to their finger-tips.
The rebels have been parading the zone, biding their time and waiting for the FACA soldiers whose commander has already been killed, to surrender.
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