The four French soldiers from the Minusca (note: the United Nations peacekeeping mission) were arrested at the airport, while escorting a French general, when the plane of the Central African president landed. Social media was quick to connect the two events and accuse them of attempting to assassinate President Faustin-Archange Touadéra. The French Embassy in Bangui and the UN denounce an operation of “gross disinformation”. For months, Paris has been complaining about “anti-French campaigns” in the Central African Republic, which would be guided by Russian interests.
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The close protection team of General Marchenoir, Chief of Staff of the Minusca Force, made up of four French soldiers, was arrested this afternoon at Bangui airport. These 4 security officers were escorting the Chief of Staff of the ⤵️— France in Bangui (@FranceBangui) February 21, 2022
Before any official communication, images of these four French soldiers, their badges, and their equipment flooded social networks last night. Dozens of accounts across Africa relayed them, along with the comment: “assassination attempt on the Central African president”. This version was then taken up by a reputable news site very close to Russian interests in Bangui. A method that recalls the arrest last year of the Frenchman Remy Quignolot, in possession of weapons of war, accused of undermining state security and still imprisoned. The arrest of the soldiers also comes the day after the broadcast of a documentary detailing the abuses of which the Russian mercenaries of the Wagner company are accused, particularly in the Central African Republic.
Since 2018, Russian paramilitaries have been present in the country. They provide close security for President Touadera, they protected the capital Bangui against a coup attempt and they still fight the rebels today alongside the national army. Their goal: to regain control of the main gold and diamond deposits in the interior of the country. In recent months, more than 200 civilians have lost their lives according to the UN, but it is difficult to have precise information, because UN investigators have been refused access to several sites where massacres have allegedly been committed. Blue Helmets are regularly blocked, searched, and even targeted by Russian mercenaries. In Bangui, the presidential guard even opened fire on a UN bus carrying unarmed blue helmets.
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Few reactions from the UN side: “We send the reports to New York, the rest is politics”, explains a senior officer of the Minusca. Conversely, France has taken a firm stand: President Macron accused his Central African counterpart last year of being “the hostage of the Wagner group”. Paris has therefore frozen its budgetary aid and its military training. But the tension continues to rise between Bangui and its Western partners. The head of Minsuca is currently presenting a damning report in New York on the abuses of the national army and its Russian allies.