Russia Bolsters Presence in Central African Republic With 600 More Military Instructors

MOSCOW - Russia recently sent a group of 600 military instructors to the Central African Republic to train the army, police, and national gendarmerie, Russia's foreign ministry said Friday.

Moscow is in the spotlight after a United Nations report, seen by Reuters Tuesday, said Russian military instructors and local troops had targeted civilians with excessive force, indiscriminate killings, occupation of schools and large-scale looting. The Kremlin has said it is a lie that Russian instructors had taken part in killings or robberies. Russia notified the United Nations Security Council of the deployment of the 600 instructors, Russia's foreign ministry told Reuters in a statement Friday. It did not say when exactly they arrived.