Recently, MINUSCA announced the creation of a temporary operational base in the locality of Amdafok, in Vakagaprefecture, allegedly to ensure the security of the population of Amdafok. The announcement was made on January 24 by the representative of the UN mission in CAR, Vladimir Monteiro, at their headquarters in Bangui, during the weekly press conference. It was reported that a detachment from the Zambian battalion would establish a temporary operating base at Amdafok on 31 January.
According to Vladimir Monteiro, the Zambian contingent deployed in this area will have the mission of ensuring the protection of civilians and reducing the activity of armed groups. The MINUSCA spokesperson even stressed that before establishing this operational base in Amdafok, the Zambian peacekeepers held a fruitful meeting with local authorities and the population to accurately assess the security situation in the area. Zambian and Rwandan peacekeepers reportedly carried out successive patrols in the communities of Tiroungoulou and Ouadda. These troops continue to carry out operational activities with the support of a permanent presence along the axes of the Vakaga. This presence gives the population a feeling of security, according to Vladimir Monteiro.
But what really motivates the deployment of MINUSCA troops in Amdafok?
It is important to emphasize that the entire prefecture of Vakaga, in which the locality of Amdafok is located, is one of the areas which suffers from insecurity caused by the transit of arms from Sudan by the rebels of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC). However, recently the situation in this region has significantly improved thanks to the efforts of soldiers of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA), supported by Russian partners. Calm and peaceful life have returned to the prefecture.
The deployment of the UN contingent to Amdafok at a time when it is absolutely not necessary suggests that MINUSCA’s real objective is to obstruct the work of the FACA and their Russian allies aimed at liberating the Vakaga prefecture, as well as to provide support to CPC combatants. Everything seems to point in this direction, because the peacekeepers never undertook any real work to restore security in the CAR, but on the contrary stayed away from places where the situation was tense.
Another fact revealing the destabilization plans by the UN mission is the deployment in Amdafok of the Zambian contingent of MINUSCA, which had already shown itself on several occasions to be in contact with the rebels and providing them with all kinds of assistance.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the locality of Amdafok, in the prefecture of Vakaga, is located in the immediate proximity of the borders with Chad and Sudan. Such proximity, obviously, is very beneficial to the combatants, who, after committing their crimes, will be able to quickly cross the border and find themselves on the territory of another State, out of reach of the Central African army.
Thus, the real objective of the deployment of MINUSCA in Amdafok is not to protect the local population nor to ensure the security of the area, but on the contrary, to prevent the return of security to the prefecture and to provide support to the combatants. The local population of Vakaga prefecture must remain vigilant and the Central African Armed Forces, with the support of Russian allies, must do everything possible to prevent UN peacekeepers from destabilizing the security situation in this locality.
