Survivors Say Russians Slaughtered 70 in Gold Mine Massacre

[Jilly_in_VA]

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.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/wagner-group-accused-of-killing-70-at-mine-in-aigbado-central-african-republic?ref=home
_________________________________________________________________
I somehow think the US is over there doing stuff too....probably Blackwater

[rockfordfile]

1. Russia is a fascist nation

[Bayard]

2. "This time accompanied by CAR government forces"

I don't want to sign up, so can't read the article.

What the heck are they mining at this site that would make the government kill its own people? Did the prince survive?

[Torchlight]

8. Diamonds, gold and uranium.

A quarter of CAR exports are diamonds.

(going off a position paper I read three years ago. My memory could be faulty and/or circumstances there have changed)

[roamer65]

3. The coup in Burkina Faso sounded like it was over the involvement of Russian mercenaries.

The President said NO, but the army overthrew him and are now inviting them in.

This is what I heard being discussed on AlJazeera English.

[2naSalit]

4. Yikes.

The people of that continent have suffered from the rest of the world's incursions for centuries. What a tragedy.

[roamer65]

5. +1000

[crickets]

6. Link w/no paywall

https://archive.ph/GDV2x

Inviting the Wagner group in is a big mistake.

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.

[Klaralven]

7. Previous paragraph

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.