Earlier this year, the rebels captured a string of towns from government forces.
The rebels captured a string of towns, pushing government forces to within 45 miles of Bangui, before bowing to pressure from troops from neighboring nations.
As a team they have won other American titles, and the Italians are former world champions who have captured a string of European championships.
A month after starting a campaign in the north, they have captured a string of towns across the country, halting their advance in Damara, an hour's drive from the capital, Bangui.
In the past ten days troops loyal to the winner, Alassane Ouattara, had swept through the country from north and west, capturing a string of towns, including the administrative capital, Yamoussoukro.
Boko Haram has captured a string of towns in recent weeks stretching over 320 kilometres alongside Nigeria's north-east border with Cameroon in a new campaign to create an Islamic caliphate, mimicking the Isis group in Syria and Iraq.
For the past week, a group of a few thousand well-disciplined rebel fighters, widely believed to be covertly supported by neighboring Rwanda, has captured a string of towns in eastern Congo, including Goma, a provincial capital, raising serious questions about the stability of this vast and often-troubled country.
Many see parallels between the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), the savage group that has captured a string of Iraqi towns, and Boko Haram, the equally murderous Nigerian outfit that is striving to expand its base beyond its original area south-west of Lake Chad.
For months, members of Hezbollah's military wing are reported to have been fighting alongside the Syrian army and the National Defence Forces, a pro-government militia, as they have gradually captured a string of villages surrounding Qusair.
Last year, Shekau declared the establishment of an Islamic state after his group captured a string of towns in northeast Nigeria.
