Pool War

Location of Pool department in the Republic of the Congo
Date4 April 2016 – 23 December 2017
(1 year, 8 months, 2 weeks and 5 days)
Location
Pool Department, Republic of the Congo
Status Ceasefire
Belligerents
 Republic of the Congo Ninja militia
Commanders and leaders
Denis Sassou Nguesso Frédéric Bintsamou
Units involved
Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo
Strength
Unknown number of servicemen Unknown number of militants
Casualties and losses
115 killed in total[1][2]
13,000 displaced[3]

The Pool War[4][5] was a conflict between the Republic of the Congo and the Ninja militia in the Pool Department in the southeastern part of the country. Tensions grew between Frédéric Bintsamou (also known as Pastor Ntumi) and Congolese president Denis Sassou-Nguesso, after Bintsamou contested modifications to the constitution. Bintsamou was formerly a collaborator of Sassou-Nguesso.[6]

Between April 2016 and April 2017, a total of 115 people died in the conflict.[1] An estimated 13,000 people have been displaced as a result of the violence.[3]

Background

In March 2016, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who ruled for more than 30 years over Congo-Brazzaville, was re-elected in the 2016 presidential election. After the victory of Nguesso was declared, the opposition claimed the election was a fraud and clashes broke out soon after, in the southern part of Brazzaville, three police officers and two gunmen were killed in the clashes. The government claimed the Ninjas were the raiders and they were responsible for the attacks. According to the following Tuesday's statement from the government 2 civilians and 12 assailants were killed. The government also stated that it arrested fifty ex-militants after an attack.[7]

Timeline

A Ninja colonel handing over his weapons in 2018.

On 4 April 2016, the Congolese government accused the Ninja militia of attacking security forces. The militia denied the accusations, calling them false pretext for political suppression.[6] Violence continued with events such as shelling by the Congolese armed forces and attacks on trains by the Ninja militia.[8][9] On 18 April 2017, 18 Congolese soldiers were killed by Ninja militiamen.[2] The Congolese government and the Ninja militia signed a ceasefire agreement on 23 December 2017. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the Ninjas were to hand over their arms and cease their interference with trade between the cities of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire.[10]

Aftermath

Despite the end of the war, it wasn't until November 2018 that the Congo-Ocean Railway traffic was resumed.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "ACLED Version 7 (1997 – 2016)". Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Congo-Brazzaville : nouveaux accrochages, soldats tués… La traque du pasteur Ntumi s'enlise dans le Pool" [Congo-Brazzaville: new skirmishes, soldiers killed ... Pastor Ntumi's stalking is bogged down in the Pool] (in French). 21 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b "République du Congo : près de 13.000 déplacés par les violences dans la Province du Pool" [Republic of Congo: Nearly 13,000 displaced by violence in Pool Province] (in French). United Nations Radio. 9 December 2016.
  4. ^ "Conflict in Pool region – Republic of Congo" (PDF). ACAPS. 2017.
  5. ^ "Congo-Brazzaville : La "guerre du Pool" ravage le pays" [Congo-Brazzaville: The "Pool War" devastates the country] (in French). 25 May 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Congo-Brazzaville : "Ne ramassez pas les corps !"" [Congo-Brazzaville: "Do not pick up bodies!"] (in French). Paris Match. 15 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Congo-Brazzaville's hidden war". The New Humanitarian. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  8. ^ Ngoussou, Ngouela (9 February 2017). "Des incidents dans le Pool empêchent le bon fonctionnement du CFCO au Congo" [Incidents in the Pool prevent the CFCO from working in the Congo]. VOA Africa (in French). Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Congo-Brazzaville: la partie de chasse de Sassou Nguesso" [Congo-Brazzaville: the hunting party of Sassou Nguesso] (in French). Paris Match. 13 October 2016.
  10. ^ McAllister, Edward; Elion, Christian; Powell, Stephen (24 December 2017). "Congo Republic signs peace accord with". Reuters Africa. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Congo's bread basket struggles to recover from conflict". The Citizen. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
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