Conflict
Deadly CAR Clash
Fighting between the army and rebels over a town in the Central African Republic has left seven civilians dead and six injured, AFP reports.
Members of major rebel group UPC launched an attack on Thursday near the town of Bakouma, around 480 kilometers east of the capital Bangui, local sub-prefect Pierre Gbake told AFP.
The victims were caught up in the attack as the rebels, coming from a town near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, tried to capture Bakouma before being repelled by the army, he added.
Civil war has plagued the CAR, one of the world's poorest countries, since a Muslim-dominated armed coalition called the Seleka ousted former president Francois Bozize in 2013.
Bozize raised his own predominantly Christian and animist militias, known as the anti-Balaka, to regain power.
Civilians are often victims of the conflict, with the United Nations accusing all sides of perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity.
UPC spokesman Ousmanou Mohamadou did not confirm or deny his group was behind the attack, telling AFP the authorities "spend their time telling tales to the Central African people".
But he added that taking Bakouma was "not ruled out" if the time was right.
The government did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
See all News Updates of the Day
Africa News Tonight: Angola advances DRC talks, Tunisian opposition leaders remain jailed, US firefighters team up with Liberian colleagues
Southern Africa bloc to begin phased withdrawal of troops from DRC
The Southern African Development Community or SADC said Thursday that a summit of regional heads of state had terminated the mandate of its troop deployment in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and decided on a "phased withdrawal." SADC lost more than a dozen soldiers in conflict in January. The 16-nation bloc took the decision at a virtual summit on the conflict in the area that has seen some three decades of unrest and claimed millions of lives. "Summit terminated the Mandate of SAMIDRC and directed the commencement of a phased withdrawal of SAMIDRC troops from the DRC," the Southern African bloc said in a communique after the summit. The SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, SAMIDRC, — made up of soldiers from Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa — was sent to the region in December 2023 to help the government of the DRC, also a SADC member, restore peace and security. SADC extended its mandate late last year.
Africa News Tonight: DRC, US in talks on trade and security, concerns of civil war risk in South Sudan, tariff talk rattles stock markets
University students resume studies in Bukavu as DRC crisis deepens
University students in Bukavu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, are gradually returning to class for the first time since M23 rebels took their city last month. Toto Mufungizi, a student, said while they were home “during these months, we have endured many strange things.” “We stayed at home for at least one month and three weeks. We were confined due to this security situation. Even today, there is no serenity, we cannot move around safely," he told Reuters. The M23 rebel group captured Bukavu, South Kivu's capital, in mid-February, forcing a weeks-long suspension of academic activities. The Official University of Bukavu, UOB, and other institutions have now reopened, but security concerns persist. "We are afraid because we heard rumors that in Goma, students were kidnapped. Here, we are also afraid," third-year student Patient Kaliwe said. Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
