UNITED NATIONS, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Some 450 fighters in the Central African Republic (CAR) have laid down their arms and disbanded since a peace agreement was signed earlier this year, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.
"The UN Mission in the CAR (MINUSCA) reports that some 450 combatants from five armed groups have been disarmed and demobilized in the west of the country, since the signing of the peace agreement in February," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"The disarmament of members of armed groups allows for the creation of mixed special units that will bring together the ex-combatants ... with the country's armed forces, the gendarmerie and the police," Haq said. They already have gone through disarmament and demobilization programs.
Among the groups disbanding were the Front Democratique du Peuple Centraficain (FDPC) and the Union des Forces Republicaines (UFR), he said.
The CAR Political Accord for Peace and Reconciliation was signed between the government and 14 armed groups on Feb. 6 in the capital of Bangui, MINUSCA said on its website.
The agreement was brokered under the auspices of the African Union with support from the United Nations, MINUSCA said. The accord followed direct talks between the parties hosted by the Government of Sudan in Khartoum from Jan. 24 to Feb. 5.
