Central African Republic Soldiers Flee Positions As 3R Rebels Raid Ndongori
The soldiers fled with their arms as rebels arrived at the village, but no casualties were recorded.
Soldiers of the Central African Republic national army, FACA, were among those who fled when rebels f the Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation (3R) raided the village of Ndongori, a locality situated in the sub-prefecture of Baboua, about 15 kilometres from Bondiba on the Nguia-Bouar highway, local sources said.
“Ten 3R rebels affiliated to the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) made an incursion into a local mining site in Ndongori around 1 p.m. on Friday, May 27, 2022,” one of the sources narrated.
“People were going about their normal duties when the rebels arrived. There was general panic. Most people preferred to run away. There were also FACA soldiers among the fleeing crowds. They abandoned their weapons and joined the civilians in running away. It was frightening.”
According to one local miner, there were only two FACA soldiers who abandoned their weapons before fleeing. The others kept their weapons as they ran.
Another eyewitness account revealed no fire exchange between the rebels and the FACA soldiers during the rebel incursion.
“The FACA soldiers did not want to confront the rebels. Immediately after the arrival of the assailants on the site, the FACA soldiers preferred to withdraw without confronting them,” the eyewitness added.
The rebels subsequently withdrew from the village after picking up the two weapons abandoned by the FACA soldiers.
On Feb. 9, 2022, at the same mining site in Ndongori, fighting broke out between rebels and FACA soldiers resulting in the deaths of six persons while one other person was wounded.
For several months now, the security situation in certain regions of the Central African Republic has been deteriorating.
This is especially the case in Vakaga in Haute-Kotto prefecture, Ouaka in Basse-Kotto, Ouham in Ouham-Pende prefecture, Nana-Mambere and Mambere-Kadei, where there have been violent clashes in most cases involving CPC rebels, soldiers of the national army and Russian, Syrian and Libyan mercenaries of the Wagner Security Group.
Clashes have also been reported in Gordile, Tiringoulou, Ndiffa, Manou, Sikikedi, Ouadda, Bokolobo, Alindao and most recently in Gaulle.
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