CAR: Rwanda deploys 750 more troops to secure country's main supply route

The Rwandan government on Tuesday, August 3, started deploying an additional infantry battalion of 750 military personnel to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA). The advance party of the new Rwandan contingent of 300 peacekeepers were airlifted from Kigali International Airport to Bangui on Tuesday.

The main task of the new Rwandan battalion is to secure the main supply route connecting Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), to Cameroon.  Rwanda's troops under MINUSCA were critical in neutralising attacks by a coalition of rebels who joined forces last December and tried to, among others, blockade Bangui in a bid to topple President Faustin Archange Touadera's government.

By and large, the rebel coalition has been defeated but it managed to retain a grip on some remote spots on the key highway to Bangui, preventing trucks from delivering essential supplies. The road from Bangui to the border with Cameroon - the city's lifeline - is essential for nearly all of CAR's imports. Cutting off this key highway earlier this year left hundreds of trucks stranded on the border. The blockade of Bangui is a rebel tactic to strangle the capital economically and force the government to the negotiating table.

Prices of food and other essential commodities often rise steeply whenever the landlocked country’s main supply route from Cameroon is cut off by armed groups. Upon arrival at Bangui Airport, the Rwandan peacekeepers were welcomed by the MINUSCA Force Commander, Lt Gen Sadiki Traoré accompanied by the Chief of General Staff of Central African Republic Armed Forces, Maj Gen Zephlin Mamadou.

MINUSCA Force Commander expressed his gratitude to the Rwandan peacekeepers for their unwavering commitment to protecting civilians and maintaining peace and security in CAR.  The troops are deployed following a request by the United Nations to reinforce its peacekeeping mission in the country.

The rebels in the country are grouped under what is now called the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) and led by the country's former President, François Bozizé, who was in 2014 placed on a UN sanctions list for committing or supporting acts that undermined the country's peace and stability.  The sanctions were in reference to his support for criminal Christian militias - the anti-Balaka groups - back in 2013.

As the country geared to the December 27, 2020, presidential and parliamentary elections, Bozize and his coalition - comprising foreign mercenaries - plotted attacks to derail the democratic process. But the mainly Rwandan peacekeepers minding the city would not allow that to happen and the election was a success as people, assured of their security, turned up in big numbers and cast their vote. In his address to the UN Security Council, on January 20, Mankeur Ndiaye, the UN envoy to CAR, said the country was at serious risk of a security and peacebuilding setback. He explained that the troops deployed act on an extremely vast territory. "In addition, the Force has only reaction forces limited in manpower, unable to act on the whole territory because of the size of the country."

With the latest deployment, Rwanda will have three battalions plus a Level II Hospital deployed under MINUSCA. Rwandan soldiers serving under MINUSCA are the ones minding the security of senior government officials including President Touadéra. They also protect key state installations and senior UN officials there and are also charged with the huge task of securing Bangui, a job they have done very well. They have foiled as well as repulsed several rebel attacks in the past.