© AFP – ALEXIS HUGUET
A man pushes his bicycle on a road in front of a Minusca convoy around Bangassou, January 3, 2021. (Illustrative image)
This decision follows the attack on an NGO vehicle in which four Central African employees of Action Against Hunger and a local official were injured.
The attack took place on April 7 in the Basse-Kotto prefecture, more than 500 km east of Bangui, in an area where the rebel group Unite for Peace in the Central African Republic is fighting. (UPC) and the Central African army supported by Russian paramilitaries, instructors ” according to Moscow, ” mercenaries » of the Russian private company Wagner according to the UN and the European Union.
The NGO teams were victims ” of an attack by armed men while they were driving and four of his employees “as well as a local health official” have been hurt explains Action Against Hunger. Its director in the Central African Republic, Jean-Baptiste Charmetant, claims not to know who the attackers were. One of the employees shot and had to be evacuated to Bangui ” more ” His days are not in danger “, specifies the press release.
In a press release, Action against Hunger announced that it was suspending part of its activities in the area until she gets ” security guarantees of her teams, she said. The NGO, which says it provides health care to nearly 4,000 children and pregnant women, is temporarily stopping its activities of ” mobile clinics » et « improving access to drinking water » and calls « all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law ».
►Read also : The head of the UN protests at the abuses committed in the Central African Republic