Russia to Send More Military Instructors to CAR at Request of Authorities, Head of OUIS Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow will ramp up the number of Russian instructors in the law enforcement agencies of the Central African Central African Republic (CAR) upon the request of the country's leadership, Alexander Ivanov, the director general of the Officers Union for International Security (OUIS), said on Thursday.

"Yes, indeed, we received a request from the leadership of the CAR with a request to intensify the training of security forces in order to further boost the security of civilians across the country. We considered this request and agreed to expand cooperation," Ivanov said, adding that the OUIS will increase the number of Russian military advisers in the African nation.

According to the official, more Russian instructors will be involved in training the army, police and gendarmerie.

Ivanov believes that this request is a testament to the effectiveness of Russian instructors, as they succeeded in training the armed forces and helped the army to plan operations and tactical moves. Thanks to these efforts, the rebels were defeated, with the government fully controlling the territory of the nation, the OUIS director noted.

"In addition, the CAR now needs to maintain control along almost the entire state border, which is over 5,000 square kilometers [1930.5 square miles] long. Because of this, the CAR now requires a large number of top-notch military and law enforcement officers," Ivanov said.

The African nation was plunged into a security crisis after a coup in 2013, followed by violence between Muslim-majority Seleka and Christian Anti-Balaka fighters. The government and the leaders of 14 armed groups signed a peace deal in February 2019 to put an end to the fighting. In February, the CAR ambassador to Russia, Leon Dodonou-Pounagaza, told Sputnik that the government controls around 95% of the country’s territory, but rebels in some areas were still resisting the official authorities.

In early 2018, Russia sent its first military instructors to the CAR at the request of the government. As of February 2022, a total of 1,135 Russian instructors were operating in the country, training military personnel of the CAR army. Moscow says that Russian representatives are not involved in hostilities and were deployed in the CAR with the notification of the UN Security Council.