In Feb 10, 2014 file photo, women carrying wood walk past a French military patrol 10 kms south of Yaloke, north of Bangui, in Central African Republic. (PHOTO / AP)
China's Foreign Ministry has urged its citizens and enterprises to leave high-risk regions in the Central African Republic, after nine Chinese nationals were killed and two were severely injured in an attack on a Chinese company.
A ministry spokesperson confirmed the casualties in a statement issued on Monday. Reports said the attack took place on Sunday at a local mining site.
According to the statement, President Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the incident and instructed that every effort be made to save the lives of the injured and handle the aftermath in a timely and appropriate manner.
Xi also said the perpetrators should be brought to justice and the safety of Chinese nationals must be ensured, the ministry said.
The Foreign Ministry immediately activated the consular emergency response mechanism and made a diplomatic representation to the Central African Republic's embassy in Beijing.
A working group from the Chinese embassy in the African nation has rushed to the site of the attack to coordinate the response.
The security risks of the entire Central African Republic, with the exception of its capital Bangui, are rated as "extremely high", said the spokesperson, adding that the ministry has issued several alerts over the past few months to urge Chinese nationals and companies to leave high-risk regions in Africa and elsewhere.
Fellow Chinese nationals abroad need to take the alerts "very seriously "and avoid visiting those regions, and those who are already there "need to leave at once", the spokesperson said.
China's embassy said on Sunday that there had been many "vicious "security incidents against workers of foreign mining enterprises in the area, and Chinese citizens who are still outside Bangui were requested to evacuate immediately.
In view of the security risks, the embassy warned Chinese institutions and citizens not to travel outside Bangui, and to contact the embassy to seek consular protection in case of emergency.
Armed men killed nine Chinese nationals in an attack on a mine run by the Gold Coast Group, 25 kilometers from the town of Bambari on Sunday.
wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn