China warns citizens not to travel outside Bangui after 9 Chinese nationals killed

China embassy in the Central African Republic has urged its citizens not to travel outside the capital, Bangui after nine Chinese nationals were killed in an attack by militants at a gold mine outside the city.

In a statement on Sunday, the embassy said there had been many vicious security incidents against workers of foreign mining enterprises in the area, and Chinese citizens still outside Bangui were asked to evacuate immediately.

Two more people were injured at the mine run by the Gold Coast Group, about 15 miles 25 km from the town of Bambari, the mayor said.

It was around 5 am 3 am GMT that we heard about weapons being fired. Abel Matchipata said on Monday that it was the Chinese mining site that was attacked.

He said the attackers were believed to be from the Coalition of Patriots for Change CPC, an alliance of rebel groups formed before the 2020 presidential election to oppose the president, Faustin-Archange Touad ra.

The CPC denied responsibility and condemned the attack.

A patchwork of armed groups control swaths of territory and commit regular abuses against the civilian population in Central African Republic, a country that has never known stability since independence in 1960.

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has called for severe punishment of the perpetrators in accordance with the law, and said the safety of Chinese citizens must be ensured, the foreign ministry of China said in a statement.

In view of the security risks, the Chinese embassy has warned Chinese institutions and citizens not to travel outside Bangui and to contact the embassy in case of emergency to seek consular protection.

The Chinese foreign ministry said that the security risk level in the Central African Republic, apart from the capital, was red or very high.

The ministry said it would work with governments to guide Chinese embassies and consulates to take more effective measures to protect Chinese citizens and enterprises in Africa.

There have been several attacks on Chinese nationals abroad in recent months, prompting embassies to issue warnings and safety alerts and conduct evacuations.