At least 10 people are killed in an ambush near a diamond mine in the Central African Republic, highlighting ongoing violence in the resource-rich region.
Authorities reported on Tuesday that in the Central African Republic, gunmen killed six motorcycle taxi drivers along with four of their passengers near the diamond-mining town of Bria.
According to Bria MP Jacques Tafogo, the motorcycle taxi drivers and their passengers were ambushed by unidentified gunmen while traveling from a religious ceremony in Ippy to Bria, the capital of Haute-Kotto prefecture. This information was shared with The Associated Press.
“They were bound and killed along with their clients, and their motorcycles were set ablaze,” Tafogo reported to the AP by phone. The city is overwhelmed by panic, prompting the army to mobilize with assistance from Wagner’s Russian mercenaries.
No group immediately took responsibility for the attack. However, in recent years, Bria, a mining town, has experienced ongoing conflict between the nation’s armed forces and an anti-government militant group known as the Coalition of Patriots for Change.
The city is prohibited from exporting diamonds due to the 2003 Kimberley Process, which seeks to eradicate the trade of “blood diamonds” that contribute to conflict in Africa.
Since 2013, the Central African Republic has been embroiled in conflict after predominantly Muslim rebels took control and ousted then-president François Bozizé.
The peace agreement from 2019 merely reduced the intensity of conflict, and six out of the fourteen armed groups that had originally signed it later withdrew. After this development, the Coalition of Patriots for Change was established in 2020.
The Central African Republic is among the first countries where Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenaries set up their operations, pledging to combat rebel groups and restore peace.
However, rather than stabilizing the country, Wagner’s forces have faced allegations of severe human rights violations and support for Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s military regime, which has been in power since March 2016.
“The military is conducting an operation in the zone where the tragic event occurred, with assistance from our Russian allies,” stated Haute Kotto military police commander Robestin Yamande to AP after the Bria attack.
