Rwanda has deployed additional security forces to the Central African Republic (CAR) ahead of presidential elections in response to imminent attacks after rebel groups announce a new coalition, a military source confirmed Monday in Kigali.
In a statement issued by the new rebel coalition in CAR, the armed groups decided “to combine all of our movements into a single entity, called the Coalition of Patriots for Change or CPC, under a unified command”
The UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR), MINUSCA, said on Friday that its blue helmet forces were on “maximum alert” to prevent armed groups from disrupting the elections.
The statement issued by the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) said the fresh deployment of protection troops to the Central African Republic (CAR), is in line with the existing bilateral agreement on defense in the country.
According to a statement from the military, “the deployment is in response to the targeting of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) contingent under the UN Peacekeeping force by rebels supported by François Bozize.”
Bozize is a former President of CAR who recently returned to his country.
On many occasions, Rwandan troops in CAR have been targeted by armed groups in this country.
“Rwandan troops will also contribute to ensure a peaceful and secure general election scheduled on Sunday 27 December 2020, twenty-two months after the peace agreement which was reached between the government and fourteen armed groups,” RDF underscored in the statement.
A week to CAR’s presidential and legislative vote, Bozize who led CAR between 2003 and 2013 has been barred from running in the election by the country’s top court, as the CAR had sought him with an international arrest warrant on charges including murder, arbitrary arrest and torture.
CU/abj/APA