In the Central African Republic, the rebels of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) are demanding the recapture of the town of Sikikédé in the prefecture of Vakaga in the far northeast of the country, a town that they had already conquered for the first time. times in mid-February 2023 before being dislodged. This time they say they want to go further south.
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THE CPC rebels launched their attack around 5 a.m., according to their spokesperson who spoke of “ a large-scale offensive “. “ More than 500 men, vehicles equipped with heavy weapons, motorcycles… We are well prepared », affirms Aboubacar Siddiq, who assures that their “ objective » is to go further south.
He also claims “ around fifteen soldiers killed » during clashes which lasted less than 20 minutes, before the Central African armed forces (Faca) retreated. The spokesperson only recognizes three wounded fighters, without any independent source being able to confirm this toll.
Progress towards Ndélé
Thursday evening, the CPC would have pushed its advantage and reached the town of Gordil, 25 km further south. “ We are on the road to Ndélé », affirmed the rebel spokesperson at the start of the evening. The prefect of Vakaga, Léonard Mbélé, whom we contacted by telephone, confirmed the rebel attack, assuring that “ fighting continued in the area in the middle of the afternoon “.
“ More than 7 000 inhabitants of Sikikédé fled from these criminals for fear that they would attack them “, according to the administrative official, who was not able to confirm or deny the assessment given by the rebels, especially since the telephone network was no longer functioning in the area, he said.
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