Chad said on Sunday that the remarks of the UN Human Rights Commission Spokesman Rupert Colville over killings carried out by its soldiers in a market in Central Africa were “defamatory and biased”.
“The government of the Republic of Chad expresses its surprise and indignation at the purported investigation published by the United Nations Human Rights Commission,” a statement distributed by the government said.
On Friday, Colville said that a probe into an attack that took place in a market in Bangui on March 29 found that Chadian soldiers had opened fire on the people “without any provocation.”
“As panic-stricken people fled in all directions, the soldiers allegedly continued firing indiscriminately,” Colville said. “Why they start shooting like this in the marketplace is not clear,” he added.
“According to our preliminary findings, at least 30 people were killed as a result of the shooting and over 300 were seriously injured, including children, people with disabilities, pregnant women and the elderly, as these were the people least able to run for their lives.”