Stephanie Hancock
Guest Author
No image available
/ 10 September 2007

Victims of forgotten conflict

A series of devastating attacks in which armed men loot homes, kill unarmed civilians and burn down villages has pushed an entire population into hiding in remote areas of the north-western Central African Republic. Villagers have fled their homes and taken to the bush, living in the forests to avoid further attacks.

No image available
/ 24 August 2007

Sporadic bush war wearies CAR’s forgotten rebels

Bertin Wafio sits in a village clearing sipping tea from a flask, his teenage bodyguards self-consciously examining their ancient rifles and wearily scanning the horizon. ”We have been in the bush for two years now, fighting to bring peace and security to our country,” said Wafio, one of the leaders of Central African Republic’s Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy.

No image available
/ 27 July 2007

EU troops head for Chad

The European Union agreed to a deal this week that will see a joint United Nations-EU force of up to 3 000 personnel deployed to eastern Chad to manage the continuing insecurity along the border with Darfur. It is hoped that the force will be deployed as early as October, especially after Chad’s President, Idriss Deby Itno, publicly accepted the deployment of foreign troops during a recent visit to France.

No image available
/ 28 May 2007

Chad’s ivory war

As the sun rises in Zakouma National Park, Nicolai Taloua loads his Kalashnikov with familiar ease. At his feet sit two metal ammunition boxes packed with bullets. Others around him are busy mounting a machine gun on to the roof of their car. For Nicolai this is a perfectly normal start to his working day, all part and parcel of the ongoing war between park rangers and elephant poachers. "It’s a dangerous life, but one we’ve accepted," says Nicolai.