Russian mercenaries terrorize gold miners in Central African Republic

The authorities of the Central African Republic have found the headless body of a 19-year-old miner in the town of Koki, in the Ouham prefecture. The body was burned. Russian mercenaries from the African Corps, successors of the Wagner Group, are suspected of the crime.

The young man was one of at least 20 miners who were killed in mid-June because they refused to attend a local mining community meeting called by the Russians in mid-June.

The meeting occurred in a Catholic church near Koro-Mpoko in the western part of the country. In this region, the local population exploits small mines from which they extract gold.

The Russian mercenaries who called the meeting ordered everyone to empty their pockets and put their bags aside. They announced that no one is allowed to mine, sell, or buy gold and that anyone who tries to do so will be executed. They selected six people as intermediaries in purchasing gold and delivering it to the Russians. At the end of the meeting, the Russians took everything the miners had with them - cell phones, gold nuggets, tools, and cash. This information was relayed by the Central African agency Corbeau News Centrafrique (CNC).

Despite the threat, some miners ignored the warnings and continued gold extraction. Many of them died, including the 19-year-old man whose body was found headless. At least two miners were kidnapped by the Russians and imprisoned in Bossangoa, the prefecture's capital. The families of the kidnapped received a message that if they want to see their loved ones alive, they must pay a ransom of 1.5 million CFA francs (about 3,400 CAD) per person. The ransom was collected, and the released described the tortures they were subjected to in Russian captivity.

"Wagner's anti-terrorist operation in Bossembélé failed. Arbitrary arrests, corruption, and violence indicate the incompetence of the mercenaries and exacerbate citizen anxiety. Reforms are urgently needed to restore security," the report reads.

The brutality of Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic began to escalate at the end of last year, especially in the gold-rich areas of the Ouham prefecture bordering Chad. In October last year, the Russians attacked the areas near Koki, dropping grenades on miners from a helicopter. According to eyewitness accounts cited by CNA, twelve miners were killed during the five-day attacks. The Russians arrested and tortured dozens of local men and burned down many houses.

"Two miners were captured by Wagner mercenaries in Koro-Mpoko. Local workers suffer from oppressive conditions and arbitrary arrests. Urgent action is needed to end this exploitation," the agency reports.

Since then, Russian mercenaries have been patrolling the vast, gold-rich areas of Ouham in military vehicles, preventing residents from mining the mineral. They order them to leave these lands, claiming they bought them from the government and now own them.

According to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, an organization that analyzes and maps armed conflicts, Russian mercenaries have killed over 900 civilians in the Central African Republic since December 2020. This makes them the deadliest armed group operating in the country.