Armed Conflict: Latest Reports from Chief Bisong Etahoben, HumAngle
HumAngle stories by Chief Bisong Etahoben
DR Congo Gov’t Claims FARDC Killed UN Soldiers By Accident
The four soldiers were killed by FARDC soldiers, who, according to a DR Congo minister, mistook them for rebels because of their faded uniforms.August 4, 2022
The Democratic Republic of Congo government claims that four soldiers of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) who were killed in Kasindi on July 25, 2022, during protests against the UN forces were killed because they wore faded uniforms, causing them to be mistaken for rebels.
The DR Congo Minister of Industries, Julien Paluku, said on Tuesday, August 2, that the worn-out uniforms of certain elements of MONUSCO were the main reason behind the killings.
“It is abnormal that elements in a contingent of the United Nations enter into a territory where they come to relieve others as a peacekeeping force wearing very worn-out uniforms. We all saw them. They were uniforms which looked like those worn by the ADF. That made the population question if the men were ADF infiltrators who had crossed the border into Congolese territory. It is this curiosity to come to the border that was considered resistance by the forces to shoot immediately. This is regrettable,” Paluku said.
The minister is a member of the government commission dispatched to Goma and Butembo to investigate the incidents that took place during the anti-MONUSCO demonstrations.
The Democratic Republic of Congo government claims that four soldiers of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) who were killed in Kasindi on July 25, 2022, during protests against the UN forces were killed because they wore faded uniforms, causing them to be mistaken for rebels.
The DR Congo Minister of Industries, Julien Paluku, said on Tuesday, August 2, that the worn-out uniforms of certain elements of MONUSCO were the main reason behind the killings.
“It is abnormal that elements in a contingent of the United Nations enter into a territory where they come to relieve others as a peacekeeping force wearing very worn-out uniforms. We all saw them. They were uniforms which looked like those worn by the ADF. That made the population question if the men were ADF infiltrators who had crossed the border into Congolese territory. It is this curiosity to come to the border that was considered resistance by the forces to shoot immediately. This is regrettable,” Paluku said.
The minister is a member of the government commission dispatched to Goma and Butembo to investigate the incidents that took place during the anti-MONUSCO demonstrations.
A source familiar with the military arrangement said the Wagner security mercenaries are being recalled to serve in Russia’s ongoing warfare on Ukraine.
August 2, 2022
Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Security Group are reportedly packing their bags in readiness to leave the Central African Republic.
This information was shared with HumAngle in Bangui by a source who claimed to be privy to the negotiations leading to the agreement by the Russians to leave the country.
“It would appear the Russians are short of robust military detachments to continue prosecuting the war against Ukraine, so they have decided to bring back some of their fighters deployed abroad,” our source revealed.
According to our source, an agreement has been reached for the withdrawal of the Russian mercenaries without the consent of the Central African Republic government of President Faustin Archange Touadera.
“One of the most perplexing aspects of the said agreement is that the Russians are supposed to be replaced by American forces that would be deployed throughout the country with a view to bringing peace to the battered nation,” a military source in Bangui said.
Several military and political observers see this new move as bad news for the Bangui authorities, who depended almost totally on the Russian mercenaries to maintain Touadera’s grip on power.
Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Security Group are reportedly packing their bags in readiness to leave the Central African Republic.
This information was shared with HumAngle in Bangui by a source who claimed to be privy to the negotiations leading to the agreement by the Russians to leave the country.
“It would appear the Russians are short of robust military detachments to continue prosecuting the war against Ukraine, so they have decided to bring back some of their fighters deployed abroad,” our source revealed.
According to our source, an agreement has been reached for the withdrawal of the Russian mercenaries without the consent of the Central African Republic government of President Faustin Archange Touadera.
“One of the most perplexing aspects of the said agreement is that the Russians are supposed to be replaced by American forces that would be deployed throughout the country with a view to bringing peace to the battered nation,” a military source in Bangui said.
Several military and political observers see this new move as bad news for the Bangui authorities, who depended almost totally on the Russian mercenaries to maintain Touadera’s grip on power.
New UN Reports Point To War Crimes In Central African Republic
The reports show a growing pattern of sexual violence in Mbomou and Haute-Kotto prefectures, where women and children continue to be at extreme risk when rebels attack.
August 3, 2022
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, published two reports indicating that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in the Central African Republic.
The first report concerns an attack on a village by a pro-government militia group, while the second report sheds light on how some armed groups committed sexual violence in parts of the country.
The two reports are based on investigations by the Division for Human Rights of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
The first report noted how a militia group composed of combatants who were members of the Anti-Balaka movement carried out an attack on Boyo village in the Ouaka prefecture between Dec. 6 and 13, 2021. The report concludes that at least 20 civilians were killed, five women and girls raped, some 547 houses looted and razed, and over a thousand villagers were forced to flee from their homes.
The second report is based on the observations of four investigative missions in the prefectures of Mbomou and Haute-Kotto. It details sexual violence cases committed between Dec. 2020 and March 2022 by members of the Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC) and the Unite pour la Paix en Centrafrique (UPC), all of which parties are affiliated with the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) rebellion.
The CPC has succeeded in taking control of several regions of the country, including Mbomou and Haute-Kotto prefectures.
“Cases of sexual violence documented by MINUSCA in the prefectures of Mbomou and Haute-Kotto confirm that the FPRC and UPC perpetrated sexual violence linked to the conflict in a systematic and generalised manner,” the report indicated.
The report concludes that MINUSCA continues to document similar cases in regions under the control of these armed groups, which indicates that this type of violence is continuing.
Cameroon Army Kills Ten Separatist Fighters
The separatists were killed in different attacks across Cameroon, which involved the murder of two prominent separatist fighters, General Rasta and Colonel John.
August 2, 2022 |
| Photo: Cpl. Alexander Mitchell |
The Cameroon military high command has announced that its soldiers killed ten separatist fighters on Sunday, July 31, 2022, in multiple clashes with the Anglophone combatants in Batibo and Bambui.
In Bambui, the army announced killing Asenjo Roy Angafor, alias General Rasta, and one of his closest allies, Colonel John. The corpses of the two individuals, terrorising the Bambui neighbourhoods, were later displayed at Four Corners, Bambui, in the Tubah sub-division of the Northwest region.
According to a statement by the Army General Staff, seven suspected separatist combatants were captured, and two motorcycles were seized during the Bambui operation.
In Batibo, the army claims to have killed more than seven separatist fighters during the past week and seized arms and ammunitions from the Anglophone fighters.
According to the army, the neutralised Anglophone separatists are responsible for several attacks and abductions in the locality.
Sources within the military say the killings in Bambui and Batibo were the first successes of General Bouba Dobekreo, who took command of the 5th military region in Bamenda on July 18, 2022.
General Dobekreo is reputed to have been the military officer responsible for the successes of the Cameroon army in the Far North region against the Boko Haram terrorists.
UN To Publicly Try Blue Helmets Who Murdered Civilians In DR Congo
The recent murders are coming on the heels of protests against UN blue helmets across DR Congo over allegations of impropriety and civilian murders.
August 2, 2022
The United Nations has said it is working towards a public trial for the UN peacekeepers who, Sunday, July 31, 2022, killed two civilians in Kasindi, at the border with Uganda in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to UN sources, a tribunal from Tanzania would be deployed on DR Congo territory to organise the trial in front of relatives of the deceased. Normally, the tribunal would be held in Kasindi or Beni, the UN sources told HumAngle.
The Tanzanian soldiers suspected to have participated in the killings are under arrest in their camp, awaiting the initiation of judicial procedures.
Yesterday, the DR Congo President, Felix Tshisekedi, shared his displeasure with the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a meeting, mentioning the need to ensure those guilty are severely sanctioned.
Pressure continues to mount against the presence of blue helmets in DR Congo, as 36 persons were killed last week in a protest against UN peacekeeping forces in eastern DR Congo, according to a report by Daniel Aselo Okito, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Security, Decentralisation and Customary Affairs.
After his mission to the eastern DR Congo last weekend, the minister discovered that thirteen persons were killed in Goma, thirteen in Butembo, including four UN soldiers, four in Uvira, three in Kanyabayonga and three in Kasindi.
The minister presented these figures during a crisis meeting organised at the African Union quarters by President Felix Tshisekedi with the National Assembly and Senate presidents, the Prime Minister, and members of the special government commission in North Kivu.
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