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Logo of the former European military mission in the Central African Republic: withdrawal from Banguil
Photo: © Stringer.
/Reuters/ REUTERS
A fire has destroyed the European Union's representation in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.
The fire broke out in the night from Sunday to Monday for reasons that were not yet clear.
This was confirmed by the EU ambassador to the Central African Republic, Douglas Darius Carpenter, on Twitter.
»The buildings of the EU delegation in Bangui were devastated by a fire during the night.
No one was hurt,” Carpenter writes.
A video is circulating on Twitter that is supposed to show the destruction.
A few days earlier, France had withdrawn its last soldiers from the country.
You were involved in an EU training mission and a UN stabilization mission.
France cited the presence of Russian Wagner mercenaries in the country as the reason for the withdrawal.
In recent years, Russia's activity in Bangui has increased significantly.
Russia has deployed paramilitaries to Central African Republic to fight rebels.
In this context, Bangui speaks of military advisers, but France and the United Nations assume that they are mercenaries from the Wagner group.
Paris accuses Bangui of supporting a Russian-led anti-French hate campaign.
According to Russian sources, a few days before the fire in the EU building, a letter bomb attack had been carried out on the head of the Russian cultural center in Bangui, Dmitry Syty.
Syty, who was badly injured in the attack, is seen in close connection with the Wagner group.
In a statement issued by his company, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin accused France of having carried out the attack.
The Central African Republic, which is home to almost five million people, is politically unstable and one of the poorest countries in the world.
According to think tank International Crisis Group, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra sees Russia and the Wagner Group as key military allies.
Even in the UN, the Central African Republic has not positioned itself against Russia.
ptz/dpa