Russia has supplied the Central African Republic (CAR) with a third batch of small arms, including 5,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, Russian Ambassador to Bangui Vladimir Titorenko told Russian state media.
“Russia supplied the CAR on a gratuitous basis with a third batch of weapons. These are small arms and light weapons (small arms) – machine guns, light machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, RPGs, hand grenades and ammunition,” the ambassador said.
According to him, this delivery is the largest – among the supplied weapons, there are 5,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The ceremony of transferring weapons and ammunition took place at Bangui airport in the presence of the President and Defense Minister of the CAR, as well as the representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Oleg Polguyev.
Titorenko explained that permission from the UN Security Council for the transfer of small arms is not required, only notification is needed.
In October 2020, Russia supplied the CAR with 20 armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicles BRDM-2. In 2019, Russia handed over to the country’s authorities Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, pistols and sniper rifles. All deliveries are free of charge.
In the CAR, the city of Bouar was attacked by rebel groups that disagree with the country’s presidential elections held on December 27.
The city is located 340 kilometers from the capital of the Central African Republic – Bangui.
The rebels attacked government forces, while the UN peacekeepers who came to the aid of the army also came under fire.
This was stated by Abdulaziz Fall, a representative of the UN multidisciplinary integrated mission for stabilization in the CAR (MINUSCA).
The elections of the head of state in the CAR were held on December 27th. 17 candidates applied for the post of the CAR president. With a high turnout of more than 76%, the incumbent head of state Faustin-Arrange Touadère won with 53.9% of the vote. The final results of the elections must be announced by the Constitutional Court.
At the same time, the ex-president of the country, Francois Bozizet, was the main competitor of Touader, but he could not go through the registration procedure. According to the authorities, supporters of the latter organized a rebellion in the country, in particular, they managed to capture several settlements, which were later recaptured by the army. The rebels moved from the southeast towards the capital.
Since then, the government has asked Russia for help, and Moscow has obliged deploying various military specialists to train the local forces.
MORE ON THE TOPIC:
The post Russia Delivered Third Batch Of Weapons To Central African Republic appeared first on .
