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The Central African Republic: low intensity evil
Real estate news By Vincent Muni? Wednesday
21 Nov 2007
The Vakaga region of the Central African Republic (CAR), summer 2007: at first glance the streets of Birao seemed peaceful. Far from the modern world, this small settlement of 15,000 people in the northeast, bordering Chad and Sudanese Darfur, felt rural and tranquil. But, despite the activity around the small market, the town’s old face had gone. Entire districts were deserted; their inhabitants had been forced to flee to the countryside and had stayed there.
This spring Birao was the theatre of an operation by the FACA (Forces arm?es centrafricaines) supported by French troops. France was in the middle of an election campaign and few in the media questioned the role of the units flying the Tricolour in the CAR, particularly in the strategic Vakaga region. On 3 March 18 French soldiers, who had been stationed in Birao for four months, were attacked by a disparate rebel movement, the UFDR (Union des forces d?mocratiques pour le rassemblement), a combination of young men from the Ouandja region, the meagre forces of the FDPC (Front d?mocratique du peuple centrafricain) and soldiers despairing of peace.
The CAR rebellion’s factions oscillate between political disputes (some take their inspiration from the former president, Ange-Felix Patass?) and criminality. In November 2006 the UFDR occupied Birao for the first time and were expelled a month later by the FACA, with considerable assistance from French soldiers based in Bangui and Mirage F1s from Ndjamena in Chad.
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