French soldiers kill armed men in Bangui
Print Edition
French troops have killed several armed fighters in the Central African Republic as Paris yesterday rolled out a UN-backed operation to restore security after a bloodbath left dozens of bodies strewn across the capital.
The French army said its soldiers killed the armed men on Thursday in a clash near the airport of the capital Bangui.
“An armed pickup opened fire three times in the direction of civilians and French troops. After the third time, we retaliated and destroyed the vehicle,” a spokesman for the French general staff said.
Yesterday, warplanes flew over Bangui, a day after at least 140 civilians were killed in the capital — many clubbed or hacked to death in violence that erupted amid international warnings the country risked sectarian massacres.
The Central African Republic has descended into chaos since rebel fighters known as Seleka overthrew the government in March and installed their own chief, Michel Djotodia, as president — the first Muslim leader of the majority Christian country.
It was the latest in a string of rebellions and coups in the country, where life expectancy is 49 years and the average income is less than US$2 a day.
Reports from UN staff on the ground indicate the situation remains “very tense” in Bangui, with ongoing sectarian violence, said Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for UN refugee agency UNHCR.
“We are hearing worrying reports of sectarian and revenge attacks between neighbors throughout Bangui,” Edwards said in Geneva.
He said “a growing number of people” were fleeing over the southern border into the Democratic Republic of Congo, with close to 700 arriving on Thursday alone.
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