Cameroon Deploys Troops to CAR Border to Stop Rebel Abductions

Cameroon’s military says scores of troops on Monday raided villages and forests on its eastern border with the Central African Republic to free civilians held captive by Central African Republic (CAR) rebels.

Speaking via a messaging application, Colonel Dominique Njoka says he led troops on the rescue mission in Mbere, a border administrative unit, where rebels were holding hostages.

MINUSCA said the CAR rebels were fighting to control border towns, including Bambari and Alindao. Authorities say the rebels are crossing the border to escape fighting with the CAR’s military and to steal and abduct for ransom.

Colonel Njoka said some of the rebels escaped across the porous border while others are still hiding in forests in Cameroon and that hundreds of troops have been deployed to its eastern border with the Central African Republic after CAR rebels this month abducted at least 35 people.

Cameroon’s military says they were able to free the five hostages after villagers informed them where the rebels were hiding in the forest.

Cameroon shares a more than 900-kilometer-long border with the Central African Republic. The military says the rebels are targeting merchants, farmers, and ranchers and stealing money and cattle.