China Condemns Killing Of Nine Nationals In Central African Republic

The Chinese government has condemned the killing of nine Chinese nationals at a mining site in the Central African Republic (CAR) where a civil war is raging.

The president of China, Xi Jinping, on Monday, called for the perpetrators to be "severely punished".

Authorities reported that on Sunday, gunmen attacked a Chinese-run gold mining operation that had just begun operations in the Central African Republic, killing nine Chinese nationals and injuring two more.

But later in the day, the rebel coalition that some had initially accused of being responsible for the attack released a statement. 

It claimed that Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group were responsible for the violence without offering any supporting evidence.

After three Chinese nationals were abducted by gunmen in the country's west, close to the Cameroonian border, the day before the attack early Sunday, President Faustin Archange Touadera decided to travel to China to reassure investors.

According to Abel Matipata, mayor of the nearby town of Bambari, which is situated 25 kilometres (16 miles) away, the attack on the Chimbolo gold mine started at 5 a.m. when the gunmen overpowered the site's security guards and started firing. He added that the opening of the mining site had only happened a few days earlier.

Later on Sunday, the victims' bodies were transported to Bangui, the country's capital. The attackers were being pursued, according to local authorities, but they would not comment further. The violence, according to the locals, was the most recent incident that eroded their trust in the security apparatus.

Ange Morel Gbatangue, a citizen of Bambari, said, "The government is having trouble proving its ability to protect Central Africans and foreigners living in the country."

Although no one immediately claimed responsibility, the Coalition of Patriots for Change, or CPC, which is active in the region and frequently conducts attacks against the nation's armed forces, came under suspicion. Former President Francois Bozize is allied with the rebel coalition.

A supporter of the current administration Anselme Bangue described the attack on the Chinese businessmen as an act of "indescribable cowardice."

"The CPC is now attacking the basis of development in addition to slowing the nation's economic growth. This must change, "Bangue remarked.

These claims, according to CPC military spokesman Mamadou Koura, are untrue. Without providing any supporting evidence, he asserted that the attack was planned by Russian mercenaries "to scare Chinese who have been present long before the Russians settled in this part of the country."

The mysterious Russian mercenary group was hired by Touadera to provide security and military training, but U.N. observers have charged them with violating human rights, including killing people.

Despite having a vast mineral wealth that includes, among other things, diamonds and gold, the Central African Republic continues to be one of the world's poorest nations.

Over the past ten years, a plethora of rebel groups have operated in the troubled nation with impunity, preventing foreign mining exploration.

Many of those doing business in the nation at the moment are Chinese-owned and have encountered security issues.

Two Chinese nationals lost their lives in Sosso Nakombo's uprising against a Chinese-run mine in 2020.

And in 2018, after a local leader lost his life in a boating accident while escorting Chinese miners to a site, three Chinese citizens were killed by enraged locals.