Paoua is a town located in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

Ouham-Pendé Ouham-Pendé is one of the 16 prefectures of the Central African Republic. Its capital is Bozoum. The region contains several ghost towns such as Goroumo, Beogombo Deux and Paoua due to government forces ransacking them and armed bandits killi ...

History

Paoua and its surrounding territories have become something of a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

after rebel and government soldier attacks in 2006 and 2007, with much of the population fleeing into the bush or into

refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peop ...

. On 28 March 2013 Paoua was captured by

Séléka Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR was an alliance of rebel militia groups that subjugated the Central African Republic (CAR) on 24 March 2013. After its official dissolution in September 2013, the remaining rebel groups became known as Ex-Séléka. Sél ...

rebels. In January 2014 the town was captured by rebels from Revolution and Justice group. On 12 January 2018 MINUSCA launched operation Mbaranga securing Paoua city and forcing armed groups to move 50 km from city

Central African Armed Forces The Central African Armed Forces (french: Forces armées centrafricaines; FACA) are the armed forces of the Central African Republic and have been barely functional since the outbreak of the civil war in 2012. Today they are among the world's we ...

were redeployed there subsequently on 28 January. The town is the birthplace of the former president of the Central African Republic,

Ange-Félix Patassé Ange-Félix Patassé (January 25, 1937 – April 5, 2011) was a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé in the 2003 coup d'� ...

References

Sub-prefectures of the Central African Republic Populated places in Ouham-Pendé {{CentralAfricanRepublic-geo-stub