Sudan shuts border with Central Africa Republic

FILE PHOTO - General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Sudan's deputy head of the Transitional Military Council, celebrates after signing the constitutional declaration, at a ceremony attended by African Union and Ethiopian mediators in the capital Khartoum on August 4, 2019.  [File photo: AFP]

Sudan on Wednesday shut its land border with the Central Africa Republic in what officials said was to manage a security threat from the neighbouring country.

Lt-Gen Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Commander of the Rapid Support Forces said Khartoum was closing the border with the south western neighbour due to “due to security risks.”

The commander of the joint forces deployed to secure the border strip between Sudan and Central Africa, Colonel Absher Baleel, repeated a similar stance on the official Facebook page of the Rapid Support Forces. “The borders between Sudan and Central Africa have been completely closed for reasons related to security risks.”

“The forces in charge are those from the army and the rapid support forces), along with forces from the Central African countries and Chad.”

Khartoum did not clarify the exact cause but officials said “security risks and negative practices between the borders necessitated Sudan’s action in coordination with Central Africa on the one hand and with Chad on the other hand, to close the borders between the two countries.”

The Central African Republic is going through turmoil after some armed groups that controlled two-thirds of the country launched an attack in December 2020, to prevent the re-election of President Faustin Arkang Touadera.

However, the government managed to recapture all the major cities and forced the militants to seek refuge in the forests, near the border with Sudan.

For months, armed groups operating in the Central African Republic have been using guerrilla tactics and planting explosives along main roads to delay the advance of pro-government forces.

By  Mawahib Abdallatif

Source: The East African