Jean Fernand Koena

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Sam Metz |Jean Fernand Koena

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic’s capital had been torn apart by inter-religious violence leading up to Pope Francis’ 2015 visit, its streets haunted by fear and division. Yet, there was the open-air popemobile driving through a Muslim-majority neighborhood of Bangui, a zone off-limits to Christians, with the pope crossing a line many feared amid a yearslong civil war.

2 months ago | seattletimes.com | Jean Fernand Koena

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Thousands took to the streets Friday in the Central African Republic to protest President Faustin Archange Touadera’s plans to run for a third term with the backing of Russian-led mercenaries from the Wagner group. The rally was organized by opposition parties that object to Touadera’s third term as president. The country is one of the first in which the Wagner mercnaries established operations with the pledge of fighting rebel groups and restoring peace.

2 months ago | seattletimes.com | Jean Fernand Koena

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The United Nations on Saturday condemned the killing of a Kenyan peacekeeper in an ambush of a patrol in the east of the Central African Republic. Florence Marchal, the spokesperson for MINUSCA, the peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, said the soldier was killed during a UN patrol near the village of Tabant, 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Sémio.

Feb 16, 2025 | military.com | Jean Fernand Koena

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Human rights advocates and politicians in Central African Republic claim soldiers who disappeared after being detained last month were kidnapped by mercenaries backed by Russia. The Kremlin has in recent years deepened ties with the gold- and diamond-rich country's military and government. Celestin Bakoyo and Elie Ngouengue — two soldiers who led a Wagner Group- aligned militia fighting rebels in the country's southeast — were reportedly detained on Jan.

Feb 15, 2025 | abcnews.go.com | Jean Fernand Koena

Human rights advocates and politicians from the region say Russian mercenaries are believed to be behind the disappearance of two soldiers in Central African RepublicByJEAN FERNAND KOENA Associated PressFebruary 15, 2025, 1:22 PMFILE - An arial view of Bangui, Central African Republic, is seen on March. 8, 2024.