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Mineral-rich Central African Republic (CAR) – scene of the killing of 13 peace-keeping South African soldiers in 2013 – is seeing growing tensions with its former coloniser French, over what the CAR Ministry of Defence has denounced as a media defamation campaign.

In what has brought the focus on the French presence in its former colony, brand and communications expert Sarah Britten, has described the situation in the CAR as “propaganda, which is part and parcel of modern warfare in any situation where there are opposing sides”.

CAR Defence Minister Rameaux-Claude Bireau, has condemned the “false propaganda campaign launched against the FACA (CAR Armed Forces) soldiers and their allies in the country.

Bireau has accused France of driving “a consistent media campaign set into force by pro-French media and networks”.

“The campaign started after the military operation carried out by the Central FACA and their military allies in the town of Bouca, in the prefecture of Ouham-Fafa – when last month government troops went on an offensive to counter armed groups carrying out criminal operations against citizens of the region.

“As part of their defamation efforts, French media outlets issued a photo of two beheaded anti-balaka militia, claiming that FACA soldiers and their Russian allies were responsible for the crime.

“Posts featuring the same pictures and similar texts later appeared on pro-French accounts in various social networks.

“CAR authorities firmly deny these allegations and denounces the spread of false information by the French – aimed at discrediting the mighty efforts undertaken by the CAR’s allied forces, to put an end to the crimes of the rebels across the country,” said Bireau.

He said the operation was undertaken by the FACA and the Russian military specialists at the request of the Ouham-Fafa’s residents, that had “for a long time suffered at the arms of the bandits who disturbed their peaceful life”.

“These criminals committed sexual assaults against local women – robbed houses, local merchants, tortured and assassinated civil population, including children.

“The source and the identities of the persons depicted on the photos, which lately surfaced on the Internet, remain unknown.

“What is certain though, is that they were released in order to undermine the efforts of the CAR’s authorities and armed forces to restore peace, security and stability in the particular region.

“An investigation has been opened into the case to find answers to these questions,” said Bireau.

“The fact that these images were shared by the pro-French media and social resources, is worthy of attention.

“For quite some time now, France has been trying to put pressure on the Central African Republic to remove Russian trainers from the country.

“Previously, France had already begun to exert economic pressure on the CAR by allocating financial aid and promising to increase it on the condition that the Central African Republic government, refused to cooperate with the Russian trainers,” added Bireau.

Reflecting on the CAR situation, Britten said the French presence in its former colonies, put the country under increasing pressure.  

Propaganda, said Britten, was “always part and parcel of modern warfare”.

“Look at Gaza, Ukraine or the US presidential race, to see very obvious use of key messages or talking points – misinformation and manipulation.

“Where the CAR situation is relatively unusual is that there is little coverage of this in the Anglophone world.

“Even when there is a lot of evidence, facts are disputed.

“In the CAR, getting information to the ‘outside’ world opinion, is quite lot harder, with Sudan and the DRC in a similar situation.

“The usual standard of objectivity is to report the facts rather than interpret them.

“We’re not seeing the kind of polarisation associated with conflicts that are more high profile,” said Britten.

She said France did not want CAR “to fall into a further sphere of Russian influence”.

“Any side in a conflict has a strong interest in constructing a narrative that favours their objectives.

“Accusing the other side of misinformation is especially effective now because there is so much misinformation out there.

“But what are the facts here?

“Verification is the most essential ingredient of objectivity.

“The inability to agree on facts is fraying our shared reality in all aspects of life.

“There was a lot of propaganda on either side in the Boer War.

“But propaganda has evolved and will continue to evolve, with the advent of AI and deep fakes, make this even more problematic.”