BANGUI, Central African Republic: Rebels in the Central African Republic on Sunday seized the key south-central city of Bambari after battling government forces, witnesses said, despite saying last week they would suspend their offensive.
“Following an hour of fighting, the city fell into the hands of the rebels who now control the city center,” a witness told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Bambari Bishop Edouard Mathos confirmed the report.
The army “was headed toward Bria (under rebel control since Tuesday) but at five kilometers (three miles) north of Bambari, the rebels attacked,” the witness said.
Mathos said soldiers were withdrawing to Grimari, some 40 kilometers from Bambari, a key market town that had been an army stronghold in the impoverished landlocked country.
The sound of gunfire could be clearly heard in the background while Mathos was talking to AFP by telephone.
Neither the government nor the army was immediately available to confirm the report.
The rebel coalition known as Seleka took up arms earlier this month and has seized several towns in the north to demand “respect” of different peace deals signed between 2007 and 2011. They accuse President Francois Bozize of failing to implement the accords.
On Friday, a rebel spokesman said Seleka had suspended fighting to give planned talks with the government a chance.
But the following day, Seleka said it was resuming its fight and claimed to control the nearby gold-mining town of Ndassima and the central town of Ippy.
Regional leaders who met Friday in the Chadian capital N’Djamena called for peace talks in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, where the Economic Community Community of Central African States is based.
They gave the rebels a one-week deadline to withdraw from their positions.
Bozize took power in a coup in March 2003.
The mineral-rich Central African Republic, with a population of five million, is notorious for its history of coups and army mutinies.
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Rebels take key Central African city
Rebels take key Central African city
Japan protests China comments on reviving ‘militarism’
TOKYO: Tokyo said it had lodged a “stern demarche” to China through diplomatic channels after Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi accused “far-right forces” in Japan of seeking to revive militarism.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Wang weighed in on Beijing’s current relationship with Tokyo, which has been under heavy strain since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan in November.
Wang said that “Japanese people should no longer allow themselves to be manipulated or deceived by those far-right forces, or by those who seek to revive militarism.”
“All peace-loving countries should send a clear warning to Japan: if it chooses to walk back on this path, it will only be heading toward self-destruction.”
Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs dismissed the claims in a post on X Sunday as “factually incorrect and ungrounded.”
“Japan’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are in response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific third country,” the statement said.
It said there were “countries in the international community that have been rapidly increasing their military capabilities in a non-transparent manner” but added that “Japan opposes such moves and distances itself from them.”
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made his stance clear at another session of the conference, followed by a stern demarche against the Chinese side through diplomatic channels, the statement said.
Just weeks into her term, Takaichi said Japan would intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.
Beijing claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
Takaichi was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister in October.
She said last week that under her leadership Japan — which hosts some 60,000 US military personnel — would bolster its defenses and “steadfastly protect” its territory.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Wang weighed in on Beijing’s current relationship with Tokyo, which has been under heavy strain since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan in November.
Wang said that “Japanese people should no longer allow themselves to be manipulated or deceived by those far-right forces, or by those who seek to revive militarism.”
“All peace-loving countries should send a clear warning to Japan: if it chooses to walk back on this path, it will only be heading toward self-destruction.”
Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs dismissed the claims in a post on X Sunday as “factually incorrect and ungrounded.”
“Japan’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are in response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific third country,” the statement said.
It said there were “countries in the international community that have been rapidly increasing their military capabilities in a non-transparent manner” but added that “Japan opposes such moves and distances itself from them.”
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made his stance clear at another session of the conference, followed by a stern demarche against the Chinese side through diplomatic channels, the statement said.
Just weeks into her term, Takaichi said Japan would intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.
Beijing claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
Takaichi was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister in October.
She said last week that under her leadership Japan — which hosts some 60,000 US military personnel — would bolster its defenses and “steadfastly protect” its territory.
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