Gunmen stormed a Chinese-run gold mine in Central African Republic on Sunday, killing nine Chinese nationals, authorities said.
“We counted nine dead and two wounded,” the mayor of the nearby city of Bambari, Abel Matchipata, told Agence France-Presse.
He said the victims were Chinese workers at a Gold Coast Group site. After the attack, the Chinese embassy urged Chinese nationals not to travel outside of the capital, Bangui, according to a statement on the embassy’s website.
The attack on the Chimbolo gold mine began around 5 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) when the gunmen overwhelmed the site’s guards and opened fire, Matchchipata said.
The mining site started just a few days earlier, he added.
The attack came just days after gunmen kidnapped three Chinese nationals in the west of the country near the Cameroon border. The kidnappings prompted Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera to plan a trip to China to reassure investors.
CPC suspects, blames Russian mercenaries
There was no immediate admission of responsibility for Sunday’s attack.
However, suspicion fell on the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), which is active in the region and regularly launches attacks on the country’s armed forces.
The coalition of rebel groups is allied with former President Francois Bozize, who was ousted by Muslim-dominated armed groups in 2013.
Anselme Bangue, who supports the current president’s administration, called the attack on Chinese businessmen an act of “indescribable cowardice”.
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“The CCP has not only slowed down the country’s economic dynamism, but is now attacking the foundations of development. This is unacceptable,” Bangue said.
However, CPC military spokesman Mamadou Koura said these allegations were false.
He claimed, without presenting any evidence, that Russian mercenaries planned the attack “with the aim of frightening Chinese, who were present in this part of the country long before the Russians settled”.
The shadowy Russian mercenary group was hired by Touadera to provide security and military training, but has been accused by United Nations observers of human rights abuses, including massacres.
Security vacuum makes CAR vulnerable
Despite its vast wealth in gold and diamonds, the Central African Republic remains one of the poorest countries in the world.
Dozens of rebel groups have operated with impunity over the past decade, thwarting mining exploration by foreign companies.
Many of the mines currently operating in the country are run by Chinese and have faced safety issues.
In 2020, two Chinese nationals died when local residents led a riot against a Chinese-run mine in Sosso Nakombo.
And in 2018, three Chinese citizens were killed by angry community members after a local leader died in a boating accident while escorting Chinese miners to a site.
ar, mm/jsi (AFP, AP)