The paratroopers were late for the Battle of Bambari…
Portuguese peacekeepers bragged about the empty city
Portuguese media, citing the General Staff of the Armed Forces, reported that the Portuguese army, which is participating in the MINUSCA peace mission, spent five hours in direct combat in Bambari, in the town located 400 kilometers northeast of Bangui. The battle took place on Thursday, January 10.
This event has become truly historic. The town of Bambari, where people celebrated World Food Day, was attacked by heavily armed Chadian mercenaries. It is no secret that the Chadian authorities, led by Idriss Deby, do not care about ensuring security on the state's borders, which is why fighters cross them without any problems.
The party was fired upon by Chadian mercenaries. Fearing for their lives, people ran and the delegations that arrived at the party quickly left the city. This is the first time since the crisis in the Central African Republic that the National Army of the Central African Republic and the groups “Ex-Seleka”, “Union for Peace in the Central African Republic” and “Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central Africa” participate. The “Republic” came together to defend the national territory and fought with a common enemy.
The MINUSCA peace mission has already been present in the Central African Republic for five years. Taking into account the arms embargo that the UN Security Council does not want to lift, MINUSCA appears to be a fully armed force capable of confronting the enemy. It should be noted that this is just an appearance. Peacekeepers have proven time and again their uselessness in truly dangerous times. 180 Portuguese soldiers serve in the ranks of the MINUSCA mission in the Central African Republic. Although they praise the video he published on the pages of periodical editions observer On YouTube highlights the events that took place in Bambari. In a video of just over three minutes, we can see snippets of the fight's finest moments. We do not see any opponents, in front of us are fully equipped Portuguese soldiers combing the area and convincing themselves that there is no one hiding in the corner and that there is only one other civilian family in the house.
According to the video, the brave soldiers are late for the battle because they are the only character in this little movie. This is quite astonishing but their actions are unlikely to be beneficial to the Central African Republic from a security standpoint. It could be said that they were in no hurry to the battlefield. At one point, the fighting involving the Central African Armed Forces and armed groups appeared to last a few hours.
The question of the necessity of the presence of the “MINUSCA” mission in the Central African Republic arises again, especially in the context that cooperation with Russian military trainers has been extremely beneficial to the soldiers of the Central African Armed Forces. Since August 2018, Russian specialists have been training soldiers from Central Africa at their Berengo camp. Teaching is limited to training, rehabilitation, and developing combat skills. Within a few months, more than 1.3 thousand soldiers from the Central African Republic were trained in the educational platform of the Berengo Military Center and served in different regions of the Central African Republic.
Despite the questionable success of the Portuguese soldiers in the Battle of Bambari, the command was very happy with how they handled the task. The letter of the General Staff of the Armed Forces stated that the soldiers defended civilians and contributed to restoring peace. The Senegalese team Bala Keita, leading the UN mission, nicknamed the Portuguese forces “Ronaldos” in honor of the famous Portuguese footballer. The Portuguese side stresses the importance of its participation in the peace mission and mentions that the second commander of the “MINUSCA” mission is the Portuguese General Marco
