UPC rebels captured the city on December 22, preventing residents from voting in the Central African general election.

[2] The Central African government continued to hold the city into late 2020, although UPC fighters still had a presence in areas surrounding Bambari.

[4] UNICEF began restocking aid supplies in wartorn areas of the country, including Bambari in November 2020, just before the fighting.

A FACA patrol had just passed through the neighborhood when gunshots rang out from UPC fighters firing heavy weapons.

[10][11] MINUSCA stated that in the battle, the gendarmerie and police station had been "ransacked" and that houses nearby were infiltrated and looted by the UPC.

[12] The Central African government also asked Portuguese MINUSCA peacekeepers to fight back against UPC rebels that had followed the retreating FACA and Wagner, and were en route to Sibut.

[12] UPC commander Ali Darassa visited Bambari on December 26, a day before the 2020–21 Central African general election.

[15] In late December, Wagner forces killed a driver for Medecins Sans Frontieres and three passengers for failing to stop at a checkpoint.

[19] A survivor of the mosque massacre stated that four people were shot immediately, and that he and others had fled over a wall into the bush as FACA soldiers were already in control of the hospital.

[21] However, the Red Cross stated that fighting was still ongoing in Bambari in the center and outlying neighborhoods, with many residents fleeing from their houses.

[24] Many residents were left with nothing after the camp was razed, and the heavy rains and lack of any form of shelter, hygiene, or mosquito netting made it hard to start building again.