Rebel forces who ousted President Francois Bozize over the weekend in the Central Africa Republic are still battling pro Bozize militia in the capital and other towns.
About 5,000 rebels swept into the riverside town on Sunday, killing at least 13 South African soldiers in intense fighting forcing President Francois Bozize to flee to neighboring Cameroon for protection.
Local reporters say the rebels are struggling to stamp their authority in the country as there is still chaos amid looting of shops, hospitals and the UN offices in the capital.
The rebels therefore appealed to peacekeepers from neighboring central African states to help control the chaos and put the country in order.
But believe their appeal will come to nothing as the African Union has imposed sanctions on the rebels for ousting a constitutional elected government. The African Union urged its members to cut ties with the rebels immediately they overthrew the government.
“Security is okay but it is not perfect. There are still some pockets of resistance,” said a senior United Nations official, adding there were still the dregs of pro-Bozize militias.
“Arms were distributed to youth in certain neighborhoods by the outgoing president,” the official said
He said conditions were slowly improving in the sprawling capital, easing fears of a major humanitarian crisis.
“Things are starting to pick up,” he told Reuters. “We need doctors and nurses to come back to work, and supplies of power and drugs. I hope it will only take a few days to sort out.”
There are rumors also that about 100 government troops were holed up at a military base at Berengo, 60 km from the capital, refusing to surrender to rebel forces.
Keeping his promise to honor a power-sharing deal signed in January, self-proclaimed president Michel Djotodia officially reappointed Nicolas Tiangaye, a civilian opposition figure, as prime minister tasked with leading a transitional government.
The United States, France and regional powers have insisted the rebels must honor the Libreville accord, signed in January in the Gabonese capital, which called for a transitional unity government till elections in 2016.
The United Nations and the African Union condemned the takeover, which came after a collapse in the January peace deal signed after a previous rebel advance to the gates of the capital in December.
The Central African Republic has rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium but it remains one of the world’s least developed and most unstable nations.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
[adrotate banner=”49″]
