Armed ViolenceNews

Russian Mercenaries Allegedly Rob, Kill Old Man In Central African Republic

Allegations against the highhandedness of Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic increase after an old man was robbed and shot.

An old man has been reported killed in his house and a Russian mercenary seriously wounded during a robbery raid by Russian mercenaries in Bria, the chief town of the Haute-Kotto district in the Central African Republic.

According to local eyewitness accounts, on Tuesday, May 18, in the Mande 3 quarter of Bria, a group of well-armed Russian mercenaries descended on the house of an old man and started stealing from it.

“As the frightened old man watched the Russians carting away his property, it dawned on him that he may finally be left with nothing for the rest of his life,” an eyewitness told our reporter.

“The man summoned enough courage, took a stick and hit it on the head of one of the thieves who were in the house.”


“When the other mercenaries returned and saw their colleague writhing on the floor, they shot the old man dead,” said the eyewitness who refused to divulge his identity because he feared for his life.

The Russian mercenaries were reported to have hurriedly taken their wounded colleague to the Bria hospital but due to his deteriorating state, they flew him to Bangui where they said he was wounded while fighting at the front.

In Bria, the population has been celebrating the dead old man as a hero and his name is being chanted in the quarters around the town.

The murdered old man was buried on Thursday.


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Chief Bisong Etahoben

Chief Bisong Etahoben is a Cameroonian investigative journalist and traditional ruler. He writes for international media and has participated in several transnational investigations. Etahoben won the first-ever Cameroon Investigative Journalist Award in 1992. He serves as a member of a number of international investigative journalism professional bodies including the Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR). He is HumAngle's Francophone and Central Africa editor.

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