Dozens of fighters from Russia\u2019s Wagner mercenary group have arrived in the Central African Republic ahead of a constitutional referendum on July 30 that could see the president seek another term in 2025.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Wagner Group fighters departed CAR days after a short-lived mutiny in Russia in June, led by the group\u2019s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, raising questions about the future of Wagner\u2019s military and commercial operations in countries including CAR.<\/p>\n
The government had said previously that the fighters\u2019 movement was part of a rotation of forces rather than a withdrawal.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year there is a rotation. Some go and others arrive with logistics, and they do this regularly at all levels, on the military and administrative assistance,\u201d presidential spokesperson Albert Yaloke Mokpem told the Reuters news agency on Monday about the new arrivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are also here to secure the constitutional referendum,\u201d the spokesperson said, declining to say how many fighters had arrived.<\/p>\n
However, he acknowledged that photos seen on social media showing dozens on the tarmac were the newly arrived mercenaries.<\/p>\n
A senior CAR military official in the capital separately told Reuters that hundreds of fighters had arrived.<\/p>\n
Instability in the nation
\nThe country of 5.5 million people is rich in gold, diamonds and timber. It has struggled to find stability since independence in 1960.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The constitutional referendum on July 30 could abolish term limits and allow President Touadera to run for office in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":31450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15],"tags":[7,26,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-31453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n