Pro-Govt Anti-Balaka Militia, UPC Rebels Clash In Central African Republic
Twelve people were reported killed, with houses and personal properties destroyed.
Twelve persons were reported killed on Wednesday, Feb. 2, in clashes between the Touadera faction of the Anti-Balaka militia and rebels of the Unite pour la Paix en Centrafrique (UPC) in Komayo and Boyo villages in the Ouaka prefecture.
The clashes also resulted in a lot of material damage to houses and personal property, according to local sources.
“On Wednesday, before midday, heavily-armed Anti-Balaka militia of the faction loyal to President Faustin Archange Touadera attacked the village of Komayo, situated 12 kilometres from Boyo on the Ippy highway,” one civil society source revealed.
According to local authorities, at least seven persons lost their lives in the incident.
“Shortly after the attack, UPC rebels appeared in the village and in reprisal attacks against the Anti-Balaka militia, killed five persons, including four militia of the Touadera Anti-Balaka faction and one UPC rebel,” the source said.
The clashes have forced residents to flee the villages in a wave similar to the bouts of displacements during earlier attacks in Dec. 2021 by Anti-Balaka militia.
Some of the displaced persons have been heading towards Boyo centre while others have taken the direction of the Ippy sub prefecture.
On Dec. 7 and 8, 2021 in Boyo, chief town of the Haute Baideou prefecture, a military operation by Russian mercenaries supported by soldiers of the Central African Republic national army, FACA, left at least 15 persons dead, according to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
Among the victims were women, children, and aged persons who were massacred with machetes.
Besides the persons killed, MINUSCA revealed, there were cases of amputations, extortion, and destruction of houses.
Most of the survivors of the attacks who numbered about 1,500 persons are currently being protected by UN Blue Helmets.
Some of the survivors numbering about 100, were repatriated by their families aboard three civilian vehicles to Bambari on Dec. 19, 2021.
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