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Rabat – Moroccan peacekeepers with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) carried out a joint operation with law enforcement to rescue 15 people who were taken hostage in the village of Koumboy earlier this month.
Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported today that a joint operation of the Royal Armed Forces and Central African Armed Forces led a rescue of 15 people who had been taken hostage by the so-called Lord’s Resistance Army.
The hostage-taking by the rebellion groups took place on March 30 in Koumbou, near the city of Obo, east of the Central African Republic.
Moroccan blue helmets and the Central African Armed Forces decided to raid on the so-called resistance army after a man who managed to escape the attack on the village told them of the hostage-taking operation.
After an exchange of gunfire, the joint operation managed to rescue the kidnapped individuals.
This operation was announced by the spokesman of the Central African government, Ange Maxime Kazagui, in a joint press conference with MINUSCA held in the capital of Bangui on April 2, added MAP.
Kazagui added that “the hostages are doing well and the joint forces remained determined in their mission.”
Morocco is one of the many countries that contributed peacekeepers to help bring stability to the conflict-stricken African nation. Since it was established in 2014, MINUSCA has deployed over 12,000 troops to the country to protect civilians, following concerns over CAR’s “security, humanitarian, human rights, and political crisis.”
On September 22, 2017, the anti-Balaka militia–a largely-Christian terror group based in CAR– attacked a patrol of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR), as the FAR soldiers were conducting an escort mission for a UN logistics convoy. The attack took place 100 kilometers west of Bangassou, where the FAR contingent had been operating, added MAP.
In an additional incident on July 25, two Moroccan peacekeepers were killed in an ambush by the anti-Balaka group in Bangassou, 700 kilometers east of the capital, Bangui. This attack came after another Moroccan soldier was killed on July 23. The three soldiers were among the contingent of Moroccan soldiers ambushed by the anti-Balaka contingent.
