Zakaria Damane | |
|---|---|
 Zakaria Damane in his native village of Boromata | |
| Born | |
| Died | 12 February 2022 |
| Nationality | Central African Republic |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Patriotic Rally for the Renewal of the Central African Republic |
| Years of service | 2014–2022 |
Zakaria Damane (death 12 February 2022) was a Central African warlord, leader of Patriotic Rally for the Renewal of the Central African Republic armed group.
Damane was born as Moustapha Maloum in Boromata in Vakaga prefecture. He belonged to Goula ethnic group. [1] He began his career as a diamond miner near Bria and later became the boss of diamond mining. In 2002, he moved to Tiringoulou after hearing the death of Yaya Ramadan to revenge the death. [2] He then worked as an anti-poaching guard and advisor to the mayor of Boromata. As an advisor, he was assigned to collect taxes from herders. [3]
In 2006, Presidential Guard ransacked Tiringoulou and the PG soldiers attempted to arrest him. However, he managed to escape to the bush. Due to this incident, aggravated by the state negligence in Vakaga, Damane and Sabone decided to rebel against the Bozize government by creating Union of Democratic Forces for Unity armed group. [4] He signed Birao Accord in April 2007. Bozize appointed Damane as advisor of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) on 13 January 2011. [1] In 2012 he joined Séléka coalition. Later he became general in Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central African Republic which formed from ex-Séléka. In 2014 he created Patriotic Rally for the Renewal of the Central African Republic as a splinter group from FPRC. [5]
He was killed on 12 February 2022 by Russian mercenaries from Wagner Group in Ouadda together with 20 of his men. [6]
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Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia is a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 2013 to 2014. He was the first Muslim to hold that office in the predominantly Christian country. Djotodia was a leader of the almost entirely Muslim Séléka rebel coalition in the December 2012 rebellion against President François Bozizé. Following a peace agreement, Djotodia was appointed to the government as First Deputy Prime Minister for National Defense in February 2013. When the peace agreement unravelled, Séléka captured Bangui and Djotodia took power on 24 March 2013. He promised to lead a transition to new elections in which he would not be a candidate, but his time in office was marked by escalating sectarian violence, and he was ultimately pressured into resigning by regional leaders on 10 January 2014.
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Patriotic Rally for the Renewal of the Central African Republic was an armed group in the Central African Republic based in northern part of the country, in Ouadda and Sam Ouandja in Haute-Kotto and Tiringoulou in Vakaga.
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Tiringoulou, also spelled Tirigoulou or Tiroungoulou, is a village in the Vakaga Prefecture in the northern Central African Republic.
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Gula, also spelled Goula, is an ethnic group who lives in Central African Republic, Chad, and Sudan. In the Central African Republic, they live in the northern regions of Vakaga, Bamingui-Bangoran, and Haute-Kotto.
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