France Gives 1,400 Assault Rifles to Central African Republic Army
Weapons were seized from a gunrunning boat intercepted off Somalia two years ago
11 DECEMBER 2018 - 17:41
AGENCY STAFF
France handed over 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and three amphibious vehicles to the Central African Republic on Tuesday to shore up its beleaguered armed forces.
French defence minister Florence Parly oversaw the ceremony at M’Polo military base in the capital, Bangui.
The military aid was announced in Paris in November, with €24m in civilian assistance.
One of the world’s poorest nations, the CAR has struggled to recover from a 2013 civil war after president Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels.
In response, Christians, who account for about 80% of the population, organised vigilante units called anti-Balaka, referring to balaka machetes used by Seleka rebels.
Thousands of people died in the violence, 700,000 were displaced internally and another 570,000 fled abroad.
With its troops hamstrung by poor training and lack of equipment, the UN-backed central government controls only a fraction of the country’s territory.
In 2013, the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo, still in place.
Exemptions are made for weapons shipments for the security forces approvd by a UN sanctions committee responsible for ensuring the weapons do not end up in the hands of militias in the corruption-prone country.
The panel gave the green light in 2017 for Russia to supply 1,700 AK-47s to the national forces in January and gave its approval again to the French shipments.
But in June, France, Britain and the US blocked a CAR request for approval of Chinese weapons deliveries.
“From France’s point of view, there is in principle no obstacle to ending the embargo” permanently, Parly said on Tuesday. “What is important is that these weapons, after they are delivered to the Central African armed forces, can be identified, stored and traced.”
The CAR has an army of only 7,000, in a population of 4.5-million, facing about as many militia fighters.
Russia has sent 170 military instructors, which Western sources say they suspect are mercenaries linked to Russian mining companies in the mineral-rich CAR.
France, the former colonial power, sent 2,000 troops to quell the Seleka rebels, winding down the operation in 2016 after President Faustin-Archange Touadera was elected. It has about 200 troops in the CAR, supporting the armed forces and the UN peacekeeping mission.
Parly said France was the CAR’s “major partner for development aid”, providing €130m a year.
French officials said the 1,400 guns were a gift. They were seized from a dhow intercepted off Somalia in 2016 for breaching an arms embargo with Yemen, they said.
The EU has a military-training mission in the CAR involving 170 people. In July, it pledged €25m to extend the mission until September 2020.
11 DECEMBER 2018 - 17:41
AGENCY STAFF
France handed over 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and three amphibious vehicles to the Central African Republic on Tuesday to shore up its beleaguered armed forces.
French defence minister Florence Parly oversaw the ceremony at M’Polo military base in the capital, Bangui.
The military aid was announced in Paris in November, with €24m in civilian assistance.
One of the world’s poorest nations, the CAR has struggled to recover from a 2013 civil war after president Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels.
In response, Christians, who account for about 80% of the population, organised vigilante units called anti-Balaka, referring to balaka machetes used by Seleka rebels.
Thousands of people died in the violence, 700,000 were displaced internally and another 570,000 fled abroad.
With its troops hamstrung by poor training and lack of equipment, the UN-backed central government controls only a fraction of the country’s territory.
In 2013, the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo, still in place.
Exemptions are made for weapons shipments for the security forces approvd by a UN sanctions committee responsible for ensuring the weapons do not end up in the hands of militias in the corruption-prone country.
The panel gave the green light in 2017 for Russia to supply 1,700 AK-47s to the national forces in January and gave its approval again to the French shipments.
But in June, France, Britain and the US blocked a CAR request for approval of Chinese weapons deliveries.
“From France’s point of view, there is in principle no obstacle to ending the embargo” permanently, Parly said on Tuesday. “What is important is that these weapons, after they are delivered to the Central African armed forces, can be identified, stored and traced.”
The CAR has an army of only 7,000, in a population of 4.5-million, facing about as many militia fighters.
Russia has sent 170 military instructors, which Western sources say they suspect are mercenaries linked to Russian mining companies in the mineral-rich CAR.
France, the former colonial power, sent 2,000 troops to quell the Seleka rebels, winding down the operation in 2016 after President Faustin-Archange Touadera was elected. It has about 200 troops in the CAR, supporting the armed forces and the UN peacekeeping mission.
Parly said France was the CAR’s “major partner for development aid”, providing €130m a year.
French officials said the 1,400 guns were a gift. They were seized from a dhow intercepted off Somalia in 2016 for breaching an arms embargo with Yemen, they said.
The EU has a military-training mission in the CAR involving 170 people. In July, it pledged €25m to extend the mission until September 2020.
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