Bouar

During a visit by The Associated Press in March, Russians could be seen driving trucks around Bangui and walking in the western town of Bouar.

The Associated Press spoke with four fighters in the western city of Bouar and the capital, Bangui, who went through the program.

Anatol Clement Bannem, the U.N. peacekeeping mission’s program coordinator in Bouar, said many fighters who leave armed groups wait for months to enter the program.

In Bouar, the program stopped six months after it began in 2017 because rebel leaders objected, and it restarted only after the peace deal.

The 32-year-old joined rebels in 2013 after other fighters attacked Bouar, killing her mother and father.