The Central African Republic has "
strongly condemned
" a parcel bomb attack against a Russian representative perpetrated Friday in the capital Bangui according to Moscow, and announced the opening of an investigation, a Central African minister told AFP on Sunday.
Russia has claimed that one of its representatives in the Central African Republic was injured on Friday by the explosion of a parcel bomb, an attack that the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner attributed to France before Paris denied these accusations.
The Central African government has "
strongly condemned
" what it describes as "
a terrorist attack directed against a senior official of the Russian Mission, and therefore against the Russian presence in the Central African
Republic ", and announced "
the immediate opening of a judicial investigation
“, in a press release.
Information confirmed to AFP by the minister in charge of the general secretariat of the government and relations with institutions, Maxime Balalou.
The Central African government spoke of a "
vast campaign to destabilize the country
", by those it designates as "
enemies of the Central African people
", without naming them, and whose "
last maneuver is that of an explosion by parcel bomb, which occurred on December 16, 2022 in Bangui
,” the statement said.
The alleged victim, Dmitri Syty, is the "
head of the Russian House
", a cultural center located in Bangui.
He had been hospitalized with "
serious injuries
", assured the press service of the Russian embassy, quoted by the official news agency TASS on Friday.
His condition was "
stable and serious
" on Saturday, the Russian embassy in the Central African Republic said on Facebook.
On Sunday, he "
continues to receive appropriate and reassuring medical care
", specifies the government.
The Central African Republic, a country in civil war since 2013, is at the heart of the Russian influence strategy in Africa.
Read alsoA Russian official in the Central African Republic injured by a parcel bomb
The growing role of Wagner also led France, a former colonial power, to withdraw its soldiers from the country.
The last left Bangui on Thursday.
France had decided in the summer of 2021 to suspend its military cooperation with Bangui, deemed "
accomplice
" of an anti-French campaign guided by Russia.
