The militant leader of one of the Muslim rebel groups, previously known as Seleka, Abdoulaye Hissene, gave the Central African Republic's troops and Russian mercenaries 48 hours to withdraw from the rebel-controlled territories.
The ultimatum was reported by the Central African Republic News on Saturday, October 27, Deutsche Welle reports.
A day earlier, Chairman of the country's National Assembly, Abdu Karim Meckassoua, was removed from office. Issen called such a move illegal. In a statement, the militant leader blamed President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of a conspiracy with Russian mercenaries.
The rebels demand that Russia "explain in detail the role of the mercenaries, who are close to the Kremlin, and the true purpose of their presence in the country," MBH media quotes the rebel leader as saying.
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In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the ultimatum to the Russian military in the Central African Republic fake news, RBC wrote.
As UNIAN reported earlier, three Russian journalists were killed in a car ambush in the Central African Republic: journalist Orkhan Dzhemal, cameraman Kirill Radchenko, and director Alexander Rastorguev. Their local driver survived the attack. The group was reportedly shooting a documentary about Russia's Private Military Company Wagner that had been deployed in the country.
Producer of the Russian television station TV Dozhd Vasily Polonsky said the three had managed to record videos of Wagner's bases.
The village of Sibut close to which the journalists were killed is a base to a CAR battalion armed by Moscow.
Maria Zakharova said that the Russian journalists killed in the Central African Republic (CAR) had entered the country as tourists.
