Assassination attempt of Sytyi is terrorist attack: CAR police

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The police of the Central African Republic (CAR) consider that the assassination attempt on the head of the Russian House in the CAR Dmitry Sytyi to be a terrorist attack, the country's police chief Bienvenu Zokoue told Sputnik on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the press attache of the Russian Embassy, Vladislav Ilin, confirmed to Sputnik on Friday that an assassination attempt against the general director of the Russian House in the Central African Republic (CAR), Dmitry Sytyi, has left Sytyi hospitalized in Bangui.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow anticipates that those responsible for the attempted murder of Dmitry Sytyii, the head of the Russian House in the Central African Republic (CAR), will be identified and punished.

"We strongly condemn this criminal action, which clearly aims to hinder the activities of the 'Russian House' in Bangui, and more broadly, to harm the successful development of friendly relations between our two countries. We hope that as a result of a prompt investigation by the competent authorities of the CAR, those responsible for organizing and committing this atrocity will be determined and will be punished," the statement said.

Sytyii received a parcel bomb that exploded on a table in Sytyi's cabinet, Bangui's police told Sputnik.

"It seems that he started going through mail at the table, opened a parcel, began pulling what was in it, and the explosion occurred," the police said.
 
The police gave Sputnik photos from the blast site that showed there was a note at the crime scene with threats in French.

Sytyi received threats prior to the attack, according to the police.

France could be behind it: COIS

Considering that he had previously received threats, the Central African Republic police regarded the attack as a terrorist act, and the Commonwealth of Officers for International Security (COIS) alongside the Central African Armed Forces training services (FACA), and CAR police, decried the attack and called the perpetrators “real terrorists.”

In a separate but related incident, the government of the Central African Republic announced, on November 28, that "a plane coming from a neighboring country bombed at night a camp containing Russian soldiers and allies in the north and left, causing only damage." 

“The enemies of peace in the Central African Republic have shown their true colors. They act like real terrorists, targeting the Russian humanitarian mission,” the COIS told Sputnik. “The friendly ties between Russia and the Central African Republic and the growing cooperation between the two countries are the point of frustration for some world powers who could be responsible for the attack on Dimitry Sytyi.”
 
The COIS suggested that “a French military contingent could be behind this terrorist attack,” since the attack came a day after the announcement from France that the final 47 French soldiers left the CAR.

“[The] Russian House in Bangui is a cultural and educational place that organizes various humanitarian events for residents of the Central African Republic and acts as a platform for Central Africans to familiarize themselves with Russian culture,” the COIS noted.

France has been expressing concern with Russia's growing influence in Africa, as Paris considers the continent to be its sphere of influence, the chairman of the African Energy Chamber, NJ Ayuk, told Sputnik. 

There are many countries that are interested in cooperating with Africa, which raises concerns in Paris because the continent is considered to be France's "property," Ayuk said, adding that the main concerns are caused by the situation in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, and Mali.