By Paul-Marin Ngoupana
PAOUA, Central African Republic, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Aid agencies in northwest Central African Republic have halted operations on the orders of the army, which has launched a new offensive against armed groups, aid workers said on Monday.
International aid organisations estimate close to 150,000 people need help after nearly two years of sporadic violence near the border with Chad, which has sent troops to help the CAR army regain control.
"It's obviously very frustrating because we know that people are badly in need, but we also understand that the security situation is making everything very difficult at the moment," Marcus Prior, regional spokesman for WFP, told Reuters in Paoua.
"As soon as it is possible we will get this food to the people who need it," Prior said.
The aid ban affects operations by the French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Italian aid group COOPI, all of which have operations in or around Paoua, some 400 km (250 miles) from the capital Bangui.
"With this order, we have no way of helping these displaced people," said a foreign worker with COOPI who did not wish to be identified. "There are 53 tonnes of WFP supplies that cannot be distributed. There is a real humanitarian crisis here," he said.
NEW OFFENSIVE
The conflict in this remote corner of Central African Republic is part of a regional cycle of violence which has seen armed groups and government forces chase each other backwards and forwards over borders, spreading death and insecurity.
Bands of gunmen began attacking settlements around Paoua in early 2005. It is unclear whether they have any serious objectives beyond banditry and looting.
Further east, armed rebels crossed the border from Sudan's violent Darfur region in late October and captured the town of Birao, demanding talks with President Francois Bozize's government.
They have since moved south, clashing with government troops on the road to the diamond mining town of Bria, though they are far from posing a threat to the capital Bangui.
Recent days have seen a renewed push by Central African Republic's army and troops from neighbouring Chad against armed groups in the northwest Paoua area, villagers and aid workers said.
A Reuters reporter saw dozens of troops wearing Chadian army uniforms and with Chad-registered vehicles, in Boguila, on the main road southeast from Bodoli towards the capital Bangui.
Medical sources said wounded soldiers were being treated at a local hospital.
Cyriaque Gonda, spokesman to CAR President Francois Bozize, told Reuters armed youths had broken some bridges in the area north of Paoua a week ago, but said he had no information about any more recent clashes.
Gonda welcomed Chad's decision to send troops to help Bangui tackle the northern rebels, and the decision of the regional bloc CEMAC to reinforce its 380-strong contingent in CAR.
"We are very satisfied with the response of Chad and of CEMAC, which shows that our partners understand that the destabilisation of Central African Republic affects the whole sub-region," he said.
