Nine Chinese were killed on Sunday (March 19th) at a mining site in the Central African Republic, which is in the grip of a civil war. The attack was denounced by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who on Monday called for "severely punishing" the culprits.

The incident took place on Sunday around 5 a.m. local time (4 GMT) in the central region of Bambari, the mayor of the commune, Abel Matchipata, told AFP. "We counted nine bodies and two wounded," he said.

According to him, the victims are Chinese nationals working at a mining site of the "Gold Coast Group company", located 25 kilometers from the locality and which was attacked by "armed men".

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Beijing calls on its nationals to leave dangerous areas

China confirmed the death toll on Monday, citing "two seriously injured", but without giving further details on the circumstances of this attack, which has not been the subject of any claim so far.

Xi Jinping "called for making every effort to treat the wounded" as well as "severely punishing the murderers in accordance with the law," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"With the exception of the capital Bangui, the level of security risk in other regions of the Central African Republic is red, that is to say extremely high," said the ministry, calling on Chinese citizens "to evacuate as soon as possible" dangerous areas.

No claim

The Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), an alliance of rebel groups created in December 2020 to overthrow President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, denied in a statement Sunday any involvement in the attack. She denounced a "despicable and barbaric" act and accused the "Russian Wagner mercenaries" of being behind it.

The Central African Republic, the second least developed country in the world according to the UN, has been the scene since 2013 of a civil war, very deadly in its early years but which has decreased in intensity since 2018.

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At the end of 2020, the most powerful of the many armed groups that then shared two-thirds of the territory had launched, shortly before the elections, an offensive on Bangui and Faustin-Archange Touadéra had called on Moscow to the rescue of his destitute army. Hundreds of Russian paramilitaries joined the few hundred already present since 2018.

This had made it possible, in a few months, to repel the rebels' offensive, then to drive them back from a large part of the territories and cities they controlled, but without being able to reinstall everywhere and durably the presence and authority of the Central African State.

With AFP

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