https://www.thedailybeast.com/wagner-group-accused-of-killing-70-at-mine-in-aigbado-central-african-republic
January 31, 2022
Witnesses tell The Daily Beast that gunmen from the Wagner
Group—which is run by “Putin’s chef”—attacked unarmed civilians, including
women and children.
BUJA, Nigeria—Prince Ngoma was just about to depart a
mining site in Central African Republic’s (CAR) eastern village of Aïgbado when heavily armed Russian
mercenaries in a pickup truck drove in, opened fire, and burned down the houses
in the area.
“They didn’t speak a word to anyone, only their guns
did the talking,” said Ngoma, who was only there to meet a friend. “I saw
people screaming and falling on the ground. It was only by luck that I
survived.”
For about 20 minutes at around noon on Jan. 16, Ngoma
said, the Russians opened fire repeatedly before fighters from the Union for
Peace (UPC) rebel group, which the mercenaries have constantly targeted, showed
up and began to fire back, wounding about four fighters and causing the
Russians to retreat.
“We counted eight bodies after the Russians had left,”
he told The Daily Beast. “These were civilians killed at the spot during the
shooting.”
But the Russians weren’t satisfied. As hundreds of
frightened villagers ran to the nearby Yanga community (located 40 miles from
Aïgbado), the Russian mercenaries, this time accompanied by CAR government
forces commonly referred to as FACA, chased them there and slaughtered as many
people as they could.
“The killings went on for two days.” Abdoulaye
Ishmael, a farmer in Yanga, told The Daily Beast. “Since the incident happened,
we've counted up to 70 dead bodies.”
The United Nations, through its spokesman Stéphane
Dujarric, said it has received reports of the incident involving CAR troops and
“other security personnel” and is “currently confirming the number of casualties
and displacement.” The human rights team in the country known as MINUSCA has
been dispatched to the area—and they may be shocked by what they find.
Locals say there are corpses littered in the forest
between Aïgbado and Yanga, while fishermen at the Kotto River that passes
through Yanga have retrieved 14 dead bodies, including women and children, according to local reports.
“Every day, we keep seeing new dead bodies,” said
Ishmael. “The number of people killed by the Russians could be much more than
what we’ve seen or heard so far.”
Reports of Russian aggression in CAR have
become commonplace. Since the 2018 killings of three Russian
journalists who were investigating the local activities of Wagner Group, a mercenary outfit linked to Russia President Vladimir Putin’s close
associate Yevgeny Prigozhin, hostility towards locals in the impoverished Central
African nation has been on the rise.
In December 2020, Wagner mercenaries fired on a truck for failing to stop at a checkpoint in the town
of Bambari, injuring the driver and killing three passengers, according to a CNN report. Two months later, Russians opened fire at a mosque in Bambari, killing about 21 people, including children and the elderly, before burning down homes nearby.
Last March, it was also reported that the Russians shot and killed a local chief, whom they had
accused of having a soft spot for the rebels near the town of Bambari. A month
after, Wagner mercenaries kidnapped four community leaders from Bria and, as The Daily Beast previously
reported, flew them to an undisclosed location
before storming Koui to seize the sultan of the northwestern town, along with
his bodyguard and assistant. They announced much later that the three men had
been killed in a landmine explosion not far from the sultan’s house.
The latest spate of atrocities which began in
mid-January may still be unfolding. Sources told The Daily Beast that the
Russians have blocked access to Aïgbado and Yanga and restricted movements in
and out of the communities. The local media is reporting that the mercenaries have set up an outpost in Aïgbado and anyone
who tries to leave the village is shot at. Residents say everyone is living in fear.
“Everyone in Aïgbado is scared of walking on the
streets because anything can happen to you if you come face to face with the
Russians and FACA,” said Ngoma. “There are a number of villagers missing since
January 16, and we suspect they've been killed or abducted by Russian
mercenaries and FACA.”
Since December 2017, when Russia secured an exemption
to the UN arms embargo, allowing Moscow to deliver arms and training for CAR
forces, Wagner mercenaries have appeared all over the restive African nation,
often guarding lucrative gold and diamond mines. Wagner recruits many of its
mercenaries from the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU.
Prigozhin—often called “Putin’s chef” because of the huge contracts handed out
to his catering company—is the mastermind behind both Wagner and Russia’s
involvement in CAR and Africa; it is unknown how closely he consults with his
comrades in the Kremlin
Prigozhin’s private military has also been linked to
recent coups in Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which also have major gold mines.
Regarded as one of the world’s poorest nations, the
CAR descended into civil war in 2013. A mainly Muslim rebel coalition called
Séléka took control of the capital Bangui, overthrew the government, and began
plundering villages. They also targeted Christians and supporters of the former
president. In response, Christian vigilantes began a bloody program of ethnic
cleansing against the Muslim minority, causing the UN to impose an arms embargo
and create a peacekeeping mission.
Muslim rebels and Christian militants still control
much of the country and continue to fight each other to take control of
territory and mineral resources. A helpless Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who was
sworn in as president in 2016, turned to Russia for security assistance months
after taking office and Moscow accepted but with an agreement to allow Russia
to explore CAR’s natural resources, and Wagner mercenaries are doing so with
brutality.
“What happened here in Aïgbado confirms what people
have been saying, that going to a gold mine in this country is like a death
sentence,” said Ngoma. “You just can’t survive in an environment where the
Russians are so interested.”
