Central African Republic: 10 dead in an ambush near a diamond mine

In the Central African Republic, gunmen killed six motorcycle taxi drivers and four of their customers near the diamond-mining town of Bria, authorities said Tuesday.

The motorcycle taxi drivers and their customers were returning from a religious ceremony in the town of Ippy and were heading to Bria, the capital of the central Haute-Kotto prefecture, when they were ambushed by unidentified gunmen, Bria MP Jacques Tafogo told The Associated Press.

"They were tied up and killed with their clients and their motorcycles were set on fire ," Tafogo told the AP by telephone. The city is in the grip of psychosis and the army is mobilized with the support of Wagner 's Russian mercenaries .

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the mining town of Bria has been plagued by fighting between the country's armed forces and the Coalition of Patriots for Change , an anti-government militant group, in recent years.

Diamond exports from the city are banned under the 2003 Kimberley Process , which aims to eliminate the trade in "blood diamonds" that fuel conflict in Africa.

The Central African Republic has been in conflict since 2013, when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and forced then-president François Bozizé from office.

The 2019 peace deal only served to dampen the fighting, and six of the 14 signatory armed groups subsequently left the deal. The Coalition of Patriots for Change was founded in 2020 following the deal.

The Central African Republic is also one of the first countries where Wagner's Kremlin- backed mercenaries established their operations, promising to fight rebel groups and bring peace.

But instead of stabilizing the country, Wagner's forces have been accused of gross human rights violations and of defending the military regime of Faustin-Archange Touadéra , in power since March 2016.

"The army is working on a military operation in the area where the tragedy took place with the support of our Russian allies ," Haute Kotto military police commander Robestin Yamande told the AP following the attack in Bria.