Supporters arrive to attend an electoral rally, at the 20,000-seat stadium in Bangui, the Central African Republic, on December 19, 2020. (Photo by AFP)
Rebel forces in the Central African Republic (CAR) have taken control of a city near the capital, Bangui, following a fierce gun battle on a major road in the west of the country.
On Tuesday, clashes broke out on a key highway linking Bangui to Cameroon, senior United Nations (UN) officials said, adding that the rebels managed to seize Bambari, the countrys fourth-largest city, which is located 380 kilometers northeast of the capital.
The attack triggered a two-hour gunfight with CAR troops and the UN peacekeeping forces (MINUSCA), unnamed sources in NGOs and the UN told the AFP news agency.
The rebels were led by an armed group called the Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC), one of the militias contesting the government in the run-up to elections, the sources said.
Bambari Mayor Abel Matchipata said, "The town is under the control of armed groups," adding that there had been no violence against local people but the rebels had ransacked the police station, the gendarmerie, and some houses.
A senior government official also confirmed that "they are in the town, we are waiting for reinforcements, which are on their way."
The Tuesday development followed an alleged military coup plot at the weekend ahead of key presidential and legislative elections scheduled for December 27.
On Saturday, the government alleged that former president Francois Bozize was seeking to mount a coup after three of the powerful armed groups that control most of the CARs territory began advancing toward the capital along main roads.
The government said that Bozize was at Bossembele - nearly 150 kilometers from Bangui - with militants from three rebel groups which had formed an alliance calling itself the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC).
However on Sunday, a spokesman for MINUSCA said the rebel forces advancing on the capital had been repelled and the situation was "under control."
The CARs President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking re-election, has struggled to maintain stability in the divided country.
Separately on Tuesday, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called for "calm and restraint" ahead of the elections.
"Anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes, in any other way, to the commission of crimes" would be liable for prosecution either by Bangui courts or by the ICC, Bensouda warned.
Russia sends extra 300 military instructors to CAR
Meanwhile, Russia has announced that it has deployed an extra 300 military instructors to the CAR at the countys request to help counter a surge in violence by rebel groups.
"We are carefully following the unfolding situation in the Central African Republic," Russias Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. "We are seriously concerned that the events of recent days have led to a sharp deterioration in the security situation in this country."
The ministry further said the opposition and armed groups are trying to destabilize the situation with the help of external forces.
On Monday, the CAR declared that Russia and Rwanda had sent several hundred soldiers and heavy weapons to the country within the framework of a bilateral cooperation agreement.
Russia had reportedly previously sent arms and security contractors to the CAR.
The CAR spiraled into conflict when Bozize, a Christian, was ousted as president by the Seleka, a coalition drawn largely from the Muslim minority.
That triggered fighting between the Seleka and the so-called "anti-Balaka" forces, who are mainly Christian and animist.
Bozize, back after years in exile, has been barred from running in the polls by the coup-prone countrys top court. The country had issued an international arrest warrant against him on charges including murder, arbitrary arrest, and torture.
The Coalition of the Democratic Opposition (COD-2020), which was until recently led by Bozize, has demanded the postponement of the vote "until the re-establishment of peace and security."
The government and the UN mission in the CAR insist, however, that the vote will go ahead as planned.
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