These four legionnaires operating under the UN banner were detained for four days in the Central African Republic. They had been apprehended by the security forces, in fatigues and heavily armed.
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The information was given without further details. The four soldiers of the French army operating under the banner of the UN, arrested on Monday February 21 in the Central African Republic, were “liberated”, announced on Thursday, the UN. “The four staff members of the Minusca [la mission de l’ONU en Centrafrique] arrested (…) at Bangui airport have just been released”, announced on Twitter the head of Minusca, Mankeur Ndiaye. The information was confirmed by the French Embassy in Bangui, on Twitter. No further details were disclosed.
The Embassy of France in the CAR welcomes the release of the 4 French soldiers, blue helmets of MINUSCA @A CA @MonteVlad https://t.co/TLbLTPcrRh
— France in Bangui (@FranceBangui) February 24, 2022
The four soldiers from the Foreign Legion corps of the French army, of French, Romanian, Italian and Bulgarian nationalities, had been apprehended by the security forces. They were arrested in fatigues, heavily armed and wearing their Minusca badges, aboard an armored vehicle on Monday in front of Bangui airport.
According to the French Embassy and the UN, these soldiers are members of the close security of the Chief of Staff of the Minusca peacekeeping force, General Stéphane Marchenoir. They had just dropped him off at Bangui airport so that he could take a plane to Paris. But on social networks, some were quick to accuse them of wanting “murder” Central African President Faustin Archange Touadéra, who had just landed in Bangui.
In response, the UN and France denounced a “rough handling”. They regularly accuse the authorities in Bangui of being “accomplice of an anti-French disinformation campaign” led by Moscow. The Bangui public prosecutor’s office opened a “regular investigation to shed light on the facts”.