CAR: 12 combatants of an armed group killed by peacekeepers

Twelve members of an armed group died in a clash with UN peacekeepers and government troops as they tried to enter a city in northeastern Central African Republic (CAR).

The fighting erupted on Sunday after the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa (FPRC) entered the flashpoint town of Birao before being repelled, government spokesman Ange-Maxime Kazagui said in a statement on Tuesday.

The UN force MINUSCA, in a statement, said “heavily armed” FPRC fighters entered the town of Birao before being pushed back.
Birao is held by the Movement of Central African Liberators for Justice (MLCJ), a rival militia
The FPRC is one of the largest armed groups in the CAR, a landlocked impoverished country where militia groups control most of the territory, often fighting for control over resources.

Last week, MINUSCA asked France to send warplanes over Birao to dissuade the FPRC from mounting an attack, the UN force’s spokesman, Vladimir Monteiro, had said.