Luanda – Central African Republic (CAR) president Faustin-Archange Touadéra announced Friday (15) “a unilateral ceasefire” by the army in the conflict with rebel groups.
“Tonight I announce the end of military operations and of any armed action throughout the national territory, starting (…) this midnight,” he announced on state radio, quoted by French news agency AFP.
The rebels accepted the truce with the exception of the two leading organisations.
The announcement comes as a result of efforts undertaken by the International Conference on Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), chaired the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço.
According to Faustin Touadéra, the immediate ceasefire is a demonstration (…) of his “firm will to promote the path of dialogue” with the rebel groups.
Considered the second least developed country in the world by the UN, CAR has been plunged into a bloody civil war since a coup d’état in 2013.
According to the AFP agency, this conflict has diminished in intensity over the past three years, but the central government still does not control much of the territory.
At its third Mini-Summit, held in Luanda, last September, ICGLR had encouraged the Government of the Central African Republic to declare a ceasefire as “as urgent as possible” in order to pave the way for peace in that country.
At the time, the ICGLR Heads of State and Government considered the ceasefire declaration “an essential factor for the success of the entire process and the creation of a favourable climate for peace and national reconciliation”.
The meeting reaffirmed the need to revive the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation, negotiated in Khartoum, Sudan.
The agreement was signed on February 6, 2019, in Bangui (CAR), as a reference in the search for a lasting solution to the Central African crisis.
Source: Angola Press News Agency