Residents of Central African Republic live in fear as IS gains power

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that local residents are living in fear over the worsening of public security as the soldiers of Wagner Group, a private mercenary group whose armed revolution against Russian President Vladimir Putin failed, left their posts in the Middle East and Africa. Instead of the local military and the police, Wagner Group has been maintaining public security in Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali, etc., where the political situation is highly unstable and crimes against civilians, including murders and robbery, are prevalent.

Residents near the Nana Bakassa camp in the Central African Republic, where a large number of Wagner soldiers were stationed, are worried about their pullout. Most of the soldiers are preparing to return to their home countries by selling all essential items, including cooking tools and mattresses. There are only 15 mercenary soldiers left near the camp. Two Russian planes, which signed a contract with Wagner Group, recently left Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, to Russia. A resident told the Wall Street Journal that there is widespread anxiety over the public security vacuum in the local community.

The situation is similar in Syria, which is divided by government forces, rebels, the Kurds, and the remnants of the Sunni jihadist group Islamic State (IS) due to the ongoing civil war that began in 2011. Wagner Group reclaimed parts of oil and gas fields occupied by the IS and has been receiving 25 percent of the proceeds generated from the oilfields. Once Wagner Group withdraws, the IS is likely to try to get them back. In fact, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation transferred the control of the management of the oil and gas fields located in Palmyra in Northwest Syria from Wagner Group to an IS Hunters of IS Hunters.

The IS is showing clear movements to resume its activities in the Middle East. On Sunday, the United States Central Command announced that it killed an Islamic State group’s leader in Eastern Syria, Usama-al-Muhajir, with the unmanned aerial vehicle MQ-9 Reaper on Friday.


71wook@donga.com