Rebels Kill Four Civilians In Central African Republic

Bangui, Central African Republic, Dec 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2021 ) :Rebels killed four civilians in a region of the Central African Republic that has been plagued by fighting between armed groups and the army, a local official said Tuesday.

Sub-prefect Ayat Moussa told AFP that the rebels killed four people including a young mother and torched houses in Ngouroundou, 600 kilometres (370 miles) northeast of the capital Bangui, on Sunday.

He blamed the attack on the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC), one of the main armed rebel groups operating in the country's east.

"Members of the UPC opened fire on the gathered villagers," Moussa said.

The UPC were also blamed for an attack last Thursday that killed a police officer in the town of Kouango, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Central African Republic, the second least developed country in the world according to UN rankings, was plunged into a bloody civil war after a coup in 2013.

The conflict has abated over the past three years, although large swathes of territory remain outside central government control.

President Faustin-Archange Touadera issued a unilateral ceasefire declaration in October, saying all but two of the main armed rebel groups had agreed to lay down their weapons -- one of which was the UPC.

The country's armed forces have been deployed in the region, alongside Russian paramilitaries and Rwandan soldiers who have assisted the military since rebels tried to march on Bangui last year.

Thirty civilians and two soldiers were killed on November 28 in attacks carried out by another rebel group, the 3R (Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation), in the country's northwest.