BANGUI /CAR/, December 9. /TASS/. Around 2,000 militants laid down their arms in 2025 in the Central African Republic, an achievement made possible with help from Russian instructors, Dmitry Podolsky, call sign Salem, who serves as the security advisor to the country’s leader, Fostin-Archange Touadera, told TASS.
"Currently, about 2,000 people have been disarmed. In many places, militants are in designated areas waiting for their turn to disarm, while they do not commit serious crimes. We do not maintain precise records of eliminated militants, but this year there are fewer than last year due to disarmament, around 200 people," said Salem in response to a question about how many militants laid down their arms over the year and how many had to be eliminated.
The advisor recalled that on the night of September 26-27, Russian military specialists, together with FACA and former militants of the 3R ("Return, Reclamation, and Rehabilitation") group who had undergone reintegration, conducted a targeted operation 10 km southwest of Bouar to eliminate militants. At least 17 militants, including two field commanders, were eliminated.
According to Salem, a total of around 6,000 militants were planned for reintegration this year.
"There are well-trained groups among the militants. Especially those operating in their familiar areas, where the terrain plays to their advantage. There are some quite well-trained ones who really do not retreat, who try to ‘circle around,’ ‘push’ somewhere in the jungles, or carry out a withdrawal, thereby drawing our units into an ambush," Podolsky noted.