The United States, Britain and France accused Russian mercenaries on Wednesday of operating alongside Central African Republic forces and committing human rights violations against civilians and obstructing UN peacekeeping, charges immediately denied by Russia which denounced the Western nations for engaging in an “anti-Russia political hit job.”

The exchanges took place at a UN  Security Council meeting after the UN special representative for the conflict-wracked Central African Republic, Mankeur Ndiaye, expressed serious concern at the military counter-offensive by the country’s security forces and “bilateral forces and other security forces” against a coalition of rebel groups which supports CAR’s former president Francois Bozize.

Ndiaye called the situation in CAR “among the most dangerous in the world,” saying violations of human rights and international law allegedly committed by CAR forces “and bilateral and other personnel … have never equalled those recently committed and detailed by MINUSCA,” the 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in the country.

As one example, he said, the number of sexual violence-related incidents in the first quarter of 2021 was five times higher than the number reported in the last quarter of 2020.

While Ndiaye didn’t identify “the bilateral forces and other security forces,” Russia has troops in CAR training its military at the invitation of the government.

A recent report to the council by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly criticised CAR’s security forces and bilateral forces for an “unprecedented increase in hostile threats and incidents” targeting UN peacekeepers and alleged human rights abuses. He said people in the country continue to face an “unacceptably high level of violence.”

The mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced deadly inter-religious and inter-communal fighting since 2013. A peace deal between the government and 14 rebel groups was signed in February 2019, but violence blamed on former president Bozize and his allies threatens to nullify the agreement.

It erupted after the constitutional court rejected Bozize’s candidacy to run for president in December. Faustin Archange Touadera won a second term with 53% of the vote, but he continues to face opposition from rebel forces linked to Bozize.

US deputy UN ambassador Richard Mills noted secretary-general Guterres’ report of a 28% increase in incidents of human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law over the past four months. He said the United States is deeply concerned at the increased targeting of Muslims and the alarmingly sharp increase in abuses committed by national and bilateral personnel.

“I think we need to be clear about these bilateral personnel, the individuals committing what many are now referring to as ‘atrocities’ are not independent actors, they are operating as extension of Russia’s Ministry of Defence,” he said.

Mills said the Biden administration is “deeply disturbed” that Russia has failed “to prevent its mercenaries from impeding MINUSCA’s freedom of movement on a daily basis.” He condemned an “appalling incident in which these bilateral Russian actors threatened” MINUSCA’s deputy special representative and a UN delegation on a humanitarian mission to Bang, which is close to CAR’s border with Chad and Cameroon, on May 28.

France’s UN ambassador Nicolas De Riviere called the situation in CAR “dramatic,” pointing to extrajudicial executions, gang rapes, torture, occupation of schools and violence particularly targeting Muslim communities, “as shown by the murder of a traditional chief a few days ago.”

“Let us be clear: Central African armed groups are no longer the only threat to the Central African population,” De Riviere said.

He said reports by the secretary-general and UN experts monitoring sanctions against CAR “point to the responsibility of a new actor, who is operating alongside the Central African armed forces and whose status is a mystery.”

“Some will try to deny the presence of the Wagner company,” De Riviere said, calling on MINUSCA to provide details of who the men are fighting in CAR and who they are accountable to for their actions. The Wagner Group is a Kremlin-backed security company that was implicated in the conflict in Libya.

Britain’s deputy ambassador James Roscoe said the armed groups are “fomenting instability, frankly, in order to line their own pockets.”

“And now, a new factor of instability: Russian private military companies acting in concert with the national armed forces to obstruct MINUSCA and to violate the rights of the civilians and citizens of the Central African Republic,” he said.

Roscoe said human rights violations, including acts of sexual violence, are not only being committed by armed groups “but also by members of the national armed forces and the Russian private military personnel accompanying them.”

He said the Russians will deny this, “but the evidence is increasing and overwhelming and I hope they will reflect on the role they want to play in the Central African Republic and their responsibilities as a permanent member of this council.”

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva countered that Russian instructors “are successfully enhancing the professional expertise of the Central African security forces without taking part in military actions against illegal armed groups.”

She said there are constant “dubious” attempts to discredit them without any evidence, especially in the US and French media which use anonymous sources.

“This looks more like an anti-Russian political hit job,” Evstigneeva said.

“As for the unfounded allegations coming from the US, they’re not done by chance,” she said. “Our colleagues seem to see Russian instructors or mercenaries everywhere.”

The CAR’s closer relationship with Moscow dates back to 2018, when Russia sent “instructors” to help train its beleaguered armed forces and supplied small arms, gaining exemption from a UN weapons embargo.

One of the world’s poorest countries, the CAR has been chronically unstable since it gained independence from France in 1960.

The CAR has become a key area in the controversy over the role in Africa of the Wagner mercenary group which is allegedly run by the shadowy businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin.

Prigozhin was sanctioned by Washington which accused him of playing a role in meddling in the 2016 presidential elections, in particular through his internet “troll factory.” He has denied any involvement.

Russians also provide CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera’s personal protection and his powerful national security advisor, Valery Zakharov, is a Russian.

“The deployment of bilateral forces will only gain in utility and legitimacy if they contribute to the protection of civilians against the abuses of armed groups,” said Ndiaye.

Almost a month after the confrontation between MINUSCA’s deputy special representative and a UN humanitarian team at Bang near the border with  Chad, the Chadian police removed a group of Russian “tourists” because they were in a military zone where the government is fighting rebels.

Some 10 Russians were picked up last week by the police near the town of Faya Largeau because they were in a military operational zone, according to national police spokesman Amane Issac Azina.

Azina said they had not broken any laws and had not been arrested, but rather evacuated to the capital N’Djamena for their own safety.

“We decided this time to visit the Republic of Chad because it is very interesting,” one of the Russians, Alexey Kamerzanov, told Reuters at an N’Djamena hotel.

“Usually world travellers do not visit the Republic of Chad because it’s not the normal route in Africa, but I checked and saw Chad is very rich in natural sites,” he said.

Among the sites on their itinerary, Kamerzanov said, was the Ennedi Plateau. The plateau is part of the Ennedi Massif, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its dramatic rock formations and rock art that dates back 7,000 years.

The area where the Russians were picked up is near where Chad’s army battled rebels in April and May, a conflict that led to President Idriss Deby’s death during a visit to the front lines. The military claimed victory over the rebels in May.

It has been reported that three Russians were killed during an incident in May in which troops from CAR and Chad clashed at a border post.

In Libya, Russian mercenaries support eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army, a UN panel of experts report has said.