MISCA neutralises a group of armed looters in Bangui and dismantles several roadblocks between Nola and Berberati
BANGUI, Central African Republic, March 18, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (MISCA) caught, in the morning of 16 March 2014, red handed a group of armed individuals, looting a private villa behind the Fidel OBROUX Camp, near the headquarters of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the 4th district of Bangui. The elements of the Burundian contingent of the MISCA Force, in charge of ensuring the security of four (4) of the eight (8) districts of the capital were alerted by neighbours at around 9h00 local time, and their prompt reaction made it possible to stop those acts of looting.
The results of the operation are as follows: 8 armed men arrested and three light weapons like AK47 seized, with 3 magazines filled with ammunition of 7.62 mm calibre. The elements of the MISCA Force also stopped a taxi used to transport the stolen goods. The first hearings reveal that the 8 armed men were elements of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA), a priori, break away groups from their military hierarchy. The attackers were handed over to the criminal investigation police of the MISCA police component and investigations are underway to identify possible accomplices.
On the same day of 16 March 2014, elements of the Congolese contingent of the MISCA Force, based in Nola, in the prefecture of SANGHA Mbaéré, during an escort mission of workers of the telephone operator, ORANGE, dismantled several roadblocks and disarmed elements of the anti-Balaka group, who manned the said roadblocks, between Nola and Berberati. Six (6) Shotguns gauge 12 were recovered during the escort mission.
The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the Commission and Head of MISCA, General Jean -Marie Michel Mokoko, welcomes the cooperation between the elements of MISCA and the Central African population and underscores that the segmentation, by MISCA, of Bangui City and the entire Central African territory specifically aimed at further strengthening the close link between the Mission and the civilian population. The MISCA will leave no stone unturned to implement in a robust manner its mandate to protect civilians and support the ongoing Transition.