Gunmen in the Central African Republic have killed six motorcycle taxi drivers and four of their clients near the central diamond mining town of Bria, authorities say.
The motorcycle taxi drivers and their clients were returning from a religious ceremony in the town of Ippy in Brie, capital of the central Haute-Kotto prefecture, when they were ambushed by unidentified gunmen, Brie parliament member Jacques Tafogo told The Associated Press.
“They were tied up and killed, and their clients and motorcycles were set on fire,” Tafogo told the AP by phone. “The city is in psychosis, and the army is mobilized with the support of Wagner’s Russian mercenaries.”
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No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the mining town of Bria has been hit in recent years by fighting between the country’s armed forces and the Coalition of Patriots for Change, an anti-government militant group.
Diamond exports from the city are banned under the 2003 Kimberley Process, which aims to eliminate the “blood diamond” trade that fuels conflict in Africa.
The Central African Republic has been in conflict since 2013, when Muslim-majority rebels seized power and forced then-President François Bozizé from office.
A 2019 peace deal only reduced the fighting, and six of the 14 armed groups that later signed up left the deal. After the agreement, the Coalition of Patriots for Change was founded in 2020.
The Central African Republic is also one of the first countries where Wagner’s Kremlin-backed mercenaries have set up operations, vowing to confront rebel groups and restore peace.
But instead of stabilizing the country, Wagner’s forces have been accused of gross human rights abuses and defending the brutal military regime of Faustin-Archange Touadéra, in power since March 2016.
“The army is working on a military operation in the area where the tragedy happened with the support of our Russian allies,” Haute Cotta military police commander Robestin Yamandé told AP after the attack in Bria.