Agency Report
The UN Blue Helmets have rescued about 20 soldiers of the Central African Republic, FACA soldiers dislodged by rebels of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) in Ouanda-Djalle on Thursday, June 16.
Most of the soldiers have been in complete disarray since their rout by combatants of the CPC.
The UN troops moved from Birao to rescue the FACA soldiers.
“However, on arriving in Ouandja, 45 kilometres from Ouandja-Djalle, the UN forces could not progress because the state of the road was impracticable,” a civil society source said.
“They met some 20 FACA soldiers in Ouandja, but most of them no longer had their weapons as the CPC rebels had seized them.”
“Telephone contacts with the first group of FACA soldiers who arrived in Ouandja enabled the UN Blue Helmets to go to the rescue of the second group of FACA fighters,” the sources added.
Local sources revealed that about 50 FACA soldiers and self-defence militia were saved by the UN Blue Helmets, while the location of others remains unknown.
As for the rebels, they have been combing the zone in search of the distraught FACA soldiers.
Meanwhile, several army uniforms and ammunition abandoned in the bushes by the FACA soldiers were found and taken by the rebels.
