  Recent X-ray and gamma-ray observations of the Galactic center region by the
ASCA and CGRO/EGRET instruments show evidence of 2--10 keV and $>1$ GeV
continuum emission as well as 6.7 and 6.4 keV line emission from the inner
$0.2^\circ$ of the Galactic center. This region is also known to host a bright
nonthermal radio continuum source Sgr A East and a dense molecular cloud
M--0.02--0.07 known as the 50 km s$^{-1}$ cloud. The oval-shaped nonthermal Sgr
A East is physically interacting with M--0.02--0.07 at the Galactic center. A
comparison between the distribution of ionized, synchrotron and neutral gas
suggests a self-consistent interpretation of the high-energy activity at the
Galactic center. Our preliminary analysis of the data suggest a shock model of
cosmic ray acceleration at the site of the interaction to explain the enhanced
GeV $\gamma$-ray emission. We also address a number of issues related to the
spatial correlation of the diffuse radio and X-ray emitting gas as well as to
the origin of the fluorescent 6.4 and 6.7 keV emission at the Galactic center.
