6/15/21
Fatouma was at home with her children in the town of Bambari when the firing began, on the afternoon of February 15. Terrified, she gathered them up and fled to the nearby mosque, thinking it would be a safe refuge in the Central African Republic (CAR) market town. But instead of finding sanctuary within its walls, she and dozens of others -- men, women and children -- became targets. Both her children were shot but survived. At least a dozen people didn't. "It was the Russians and the FACA [the CAR army]," Fatouma said. Russian mercenaries, supported by at least one combat helicopter, attacked the neighborhood as they hunted for rebels known as the Seleka. But according to multiple witnesses, they opened fire indiscriminately against civilians, many of them hiding at the al Taqwa mosque. "There was not a single Seleka element found in the mosque," Fatouma said. "It was just the civilian population that they killed. We didn't even see a dead Seleka body on the ground, it was our children they killed." Despite a pervasive climate of fear, dozens of people in the Central African Republic have spoken of summary killings, instances of rape and torture, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including the burning of homes.
Others told CNN that they were fired on by Russian helicopters that afternoon. CNN has confirmed that several Russian combat helicopters were shipped to CAR earlier this year. The total number killed in and around the mosque that February afternoon is unknown; but from the accounts gathered by CNN it was somewhere between a dozen and 20. It was far from an isolated incident. In its report on the incident in Bambari, the UN Working Group (UNWG) on Mercenaries said Russian mercenaries stood "accused of using excessive force and shelling protected sites such as a mosque and IDP camps." One woman in Bambari, Adja, told CNN her husband had taken shelter at the mosque. "Even though civilians took shelter there, the Russians fired," she said. "For three days, the Russians would not allow us to retrieve the bodies." Another woman, Djibrila, told CNN her 15-year-old son was killed by Russians firing from a helicopter. When her husband tried to find him, he too was cut down; he died in hospital four days later. Several witnesses told CNN and Sentry that the Russians had a base outside Bambari where torture was commonplace. A community leader from a village south of Bambari alleged that when the Russians and CAR troops found local people at a gold mine they slit their throats, adding "they want to create fear so that people don't go to the mining area anymore."
