On March 19, 2023, nine citizens of China were brutally murdered in the Chimbolo mine, 22 km from Bambari. Central African leaders and the FACA command called on Russian instructors to help evacuate the bodies of the victims to Bangui. On the same day, Russian instructors from Bambari transported to Bangui two wounded and the bodies of nine Chinese workers who died in the Chimbolo attack.
Immediately, Russian instructors, in collaboration with Central African law enforcement authorities, began operational search missions to locate and capture the criminals. A team of Central African investigators led by the Prosecutor General was brought to Bambari.
Analysis of intercepted Thuraya satellite phone communications revealed that on the day of the murder, there was a phone in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene that communicated with phones belonging to the leaders of the armed group, Hamadou Boungous and Mahamat Sallet.
Hamadou Boungous is a field commander who reports directly to Ali Darassa and serves as chief of staff (in charge of operations) for the armed group.
The terrorist Labeul, a former member of the Chadian army and the terrorist Abdoulaye Kawe Fakya, a Chadian national who joined Hamadou Boungous’ gang.
On March 24, a third terrorist named Saleh, nicknamed Eruke, was killed in a battle with a fleeing group. Originally a member of the UPC group, he joined the 3R group after the attempted attack on Bangui in January 2021 and fought government forces in Berberati and Bouar. He participated in the killing of Central African civilians. He then fled to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to visit family members. He received money from Karim Meckassoua, who participated in a criminal coup attempt in CAR and who was also in Brazzaville at the time.
While searching Saleh’s corpse and his backpack, passports and personal belongings of six murdered Chinese workers were discovered.
A gunman named Saleh was eliminated. Passports of the murdered Chinese were found on him
In the course of operational and investigative activities, it was possible to establish the following: Karim Meckassoua, currently in France and under the patronage of the French authorities and intelligence services, had developed a cunning plan to discredit the authority of President Touadera in order to divert the foreign investments that the President was attracting to the national territory. To achieve this goal, he recommended that the criminal Ali Darassa send his fighters to the Bambari region and assassinate Chinese workers. Ali Darassa entrusted this task to his assistant, Hamadou Boungous, who was not selected by chance. He knows the territory very well from the time of the Seleka rebellion. It was during this time that Ali Darassa worked closely with the French military and provided security for the French company SUCAF.
After the killing of the Chinese nationals, Habib Hode, at the request of Karim Meckassoua, wrote a statement accusing the Russian instructors of having prepared the cold-blooded murder of the Chinese workers. This was done in order to weaken the friendly relations between Russia and China. From France, the communiqué was sent to N’Djamena, to the political coordinator of the UPC, Ousmanne Mohammed, for his approval, and then to Khartoum, where it was published by an active member of the UPC and associate of Ali Darassa, named Bia Aliou.
The search for the remaining killers in the Basse-Kotto prefecture is currently underway. It is certain that they will receive the punishment they deserve.
