• The murderers Chinese miners in the Central African Republic must be “severely” punished.
• The killings were attributed by the local mayor to a rebel organisation.
• The Wagner organisation has not yet responded to the assertion.

The murderers of nine Chinese miners in the Central African Republic (CAR) must be “severely” punished, according to China’s President Xi Jinping.

When gunmen invaded a mining facility close to the central town of Bambari on Sunday, two Chinese workers were also injured.

The killings were attributed by the local mayor to a rebel organisation.

The Wagner organisation, according to the rebels, sent Russian mercenaries to carry out the attack.

The Wagner organisation has not yet responded to the assertion.

According to several reports, its militants have been sent to the mineral-rich Central African Republic (CAR) to assist government forces in crushing the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), an alliance of rebel organizations.

China and Russia have both made significant investments in Africa to take advantage of its mineral wealth and to counter the influence of Western nations.

The foreign ministry of China urged its citizens to “leave high-risk locations as swiftly as possible” in a statement.

Abel Matchipata, the mayor of Bambari, claimed that the attack happened at a mining site that had just begun operations.

“The entire Central African Republic, with the exception of its capital Bangui, is rated red in terms of security risks,” it added.

The statement quoted President Xi as saying that every effort should be made to save the lives of the wounded, and to ensure the perpetrators were arrested and “punished severely” under the law.

Unnamed sources told French radio RFI that before the dead were taken to a hospital, police, security personnel, and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group arrived at the scene of the incident.

The report has not been independently verified.

Chinese nationals have been the target of several attacks in CAR. In the most recent incident, three of them were kidnapped on March 13 in close proximity to a community in the country’s west.

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