Home
Uneasy Calm Follows Recapture of Bangui
BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (November 1, 2002) - Residents of this capital
city were asked to return to work today after government forces recaptured
the city and drove rebel forces from the area, sources tell Covenant News
Service.
The action follows several days of fighting that led some missionaries to
leave the area and forced others to remain in their homes. An Evangelical
Covenant Church delegation led by Robert Thornbloom safely returned to the
United States Thursday.
"There is some fear yet in parts of town concerning looting by soldiers
working for the government or by local thieves," one source reported. "That
is not a problem where our office is located," the source added.
Telephone service was restored Wednesday evening, though some neighborhoods
remain without electrical power after lightning strikes damaged the system.
U.S. Embassy personnel reportedly were planning to leave the city earlier
today, most likely the result of a decision made earlier in the week when
conditions were more unstable. "The embassy was still referring to the
situation in Bangui as fluid late this afternoon, meaning that events can
easily change," the source said.
Those remaining in the region ask prayer for those displaced from their
homes, for families who lost loved ones in the fighting and for underlying
tensions in the country that remain unresolved.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
