CAR: Four Chinese abducted in Lamy-Pont

Four Chinese gold miners have been kidnapped in Lamy-Pont, a village in Central African Republic (CAR), near the town of Abba, in Nana-Mambéré sub prefecture where three Chinese were also abducted in March 2023.

The incident occurred Saturday Novembr 18, during a clash between armed forced and a group of unidentified armed men who attacked the mining site of Zongo, close to Lamy-Pont.

The region is renowned for kidnappings for ransoms due to the presence of mineral resources.

There has been no information on the whereabouts of the four Chinese and the identities of the kidnappers since then, reports say.

In March 2023, three other Chinese were abducted by some unidentified armed men 25 km from Abba. Authorities blamed rebel group “Coalition des patriotes pour le changement (CPC)” for the incident.

The rebels opposed to the State are very active in the region.
The three Chinese were exploiting a mining field in the west of the country. They were freed in April 2023. However it was unclear if any ransom was paid.
In the same month of March 2023, nine other Chinese gold miners were killed 25km (15 miles) from Bambari, the main town in the Ouaka prefecture.
Authorities blamed the CPC for the attack but the rebels group denied any wrongdoing.