By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Central African Republic said on Tuesday that two commanders of a rebel group active in the northeast of the country were killed during French-backed army operations to restore government control of the region. A defence ministry statement read on state radio by presidential press spokesman Barthelemy Feidoka said the rebels, General Damane Zakaria and Capt. Diego Albator Yao, were killed in fighting with government troops. The statement gave no more details, but said the government army had "retaken the towns occupied by the rebels of the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR)". There was no independent confirmation of the deaths of the two UFDR commanders. There was no answer from Yao's satellite phone on Tuesday. French military advisers and French Mirage fighters have since late November been assisting the government army in an offensive to regain control of the northeast Vakaga prefecture where UFDR fighters had seized a string of towns since Oct. 30. On a number of occasions, the French Mirage F1s opened fire on the rebels, French military spokesman say. But details of the anti-rebel offensive in the remote and rugged northeast, several hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the capital Bangui, have remained sketchy. Security experts said the government army, helped by the French military and troops from Chad, Gabon and Congo Republic, appeared to have been successful in retaking northeastern towns from the rebels. But the rebel fighters sometimes simply melted away when the army moved against them. "The fact that they're not being engaged means that they're still out there," one expert, who asked not to be named, said. APPEAL FOR AID The French-backed government forces launched the offensive against the UFDR after authorities in Benin last month arrested two other leaders of the rebel group, Michel Djotodia and Captain Abakar Sabone. Judicial authorities in Cotonou are considering whether the two, who issued statements from Benin about the group's activities, should be extradited to Central African Republic. The UFDR rebels had demanded power sharing talks with President Francois Bozize. He refused and accused neighbouring Sudan of backing the insurgents. Khartoum denied this. In a separate development, the U.N. World Food Programme on Tuesday appealed to the international community to support its operations to provide urgent food aid to thousands of villagers who had fled violence in northwest Central African Republic. Northwestern regions have been plagued by attacks by bandits and fighting between government forces and rebels.
