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Clashes in Central African Republic as UN prepares to vote on French mission Clashes in Central African Republic as French gear up for major intervention
(35 minutes later)
The French army has deployed 250 troops to the capital of the Central African Republic, the defence ministry said on Thursday, after clashes broke out between former rebels and militias. A major French military intervention in the Central African Republic (CAR) is expected within days of a UN vote on Thursday as the world races to prevent a sectarian war.
"At this stage 250 French soldiers have been deployed in Bangui to secure and patrol," ministry spokesman Gilles Jarron told a news briefing, adding that the clashes were continuing. The troops were part of a force of 600 French troops already in the country. The move comes as the country's capital, Bangui, witnessed its heaviest clashes for months between mainly Muslim rebels and militias from the Christian majority.
The United Nations security council is set to authorise more troops from African nations and former colonial power France to deploy amid growing sectarian violence. The most recent attack this week, which was blamed on Christian fighters, killed nearly a dozen women and children in a remote community. Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, told BFM-TV that around 1,200 French soldiers would be deployed in the operation. Around 600 French troops are already in the former colony, which has been controlled by a coalition of rebel groups since a coup in March.
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday that military intervention would unfold swiftly after the UN vote, telling BFM-TV that the French deployment would total about 1,200, with 600 troops already in the country. The fighters known as the Seleka are accused of numerous atrocities and recruiting child soldiers, and Fabius has warned that the nation is verging on genocide. "We have to end this humanitarian catastrophe and restore security," he said.
"We have to end this humanitarian catastrophe and restore security," Fabius said. France has called for the UN security council to vote on a resolution that would authorise the deployment of an African Union (AU)-led force to the CAR for a year to protect civilians and restore security and public order. The AU force is replacing a regional peacekeeping mission whose presence has been mainly limited to Bangui and a few northern cities.
Crackles of gunfire first erupted at about 6am and could still be heard sporadically nearly three hours later close to Bangui's airport. Other reports of arms fire came in from suburbs north and east of Bangui. The UN resolution would also authorise French forces, for a temporary period, "to take all necessary measures" to support the AU-led force, whose troop numbers are expected to rise from about 2,500 to 3,500.
"It's not exactly clear but we believe the attackers are members of the anti-balaka," said government spokesman Gaston Mackouzangba. "Our forces are on the ground now." Crackles of gunfire erupted at around 6am in Bangui on Thursday and could still be heard sporadically nearly three hours later close to the city's international airport. There were other reports of arms fire from suburbs north and east of Bangui.
Balaka means machete, and "anti-balaka" is the name adopted by groups who took up arms against members of the former rebel coalition known as Seleka, who now claim control of the government. "There has been gunfire all over town," Amy Martin, head of the UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs in Bangui, told Reuters. The clashes appeared to have started around the Boy-Rabe neighbourhood, she added, a stronghold of ousted president François Bozizé that has been repeatedly raided by Seleka forces amid reports arms had been distributed to civilians before his fall.
Seleka is an unlikely group of allies who united a year ago with the goal of forcing President Francois Bozize from the presidency after a decade in power. After thousands of rebels besieged Bangui in March, Bozize fled and the insurgents installed their leader Michel Djotodia as president. The Seleka scrambled fighters in the direction of the gunfire as panicked residents ran for safety. General Arda Hakouma, now head of interim president Michel Djotodia's personal security detail, said "anti-balaka" forces had attacked and fighting was taking place in three parts of the city. "There are many of them," he said. "Some of them are well armed with rifles and rocket launchers. Others are dressed in civilian clothes with machetes."
However, he has increasingly sought to distance himself from his former allies as the Seleka rebels have been blamed for scores of atrocities in Bangui, killing and raping civilians and stealing from aid groups and orphanages. He has even less control over the ex-Seleka in the distant provinces where anger over human rights abuses fuelled the formation of the Christian anti-balaka movement several months ago. "Anti-balaka", or "anti-machete", is the name adopted by mainly Christian vigilante groups who took up arms against the Seleka, whose ranks include hundreds of mercenaries from neighbouring Chad and Sudan. This has led to growing tit-for-tat violence along sectarian lines.
While the anti-balaka fighters include villagers defending their communities against Seleka attacks with artisanal hunting rifles and machetes, it also is believed to be receiving support from those still allied to Bozize, now in exile. The anti-balaka fighters also have been implicated in massacres on Muslim civilian populations, which have suffered under the Seleka regime and say they are being unfairly blamed for Seleka's wanton destruction. One resident of Bangui said he saw a group of about 40 "anti-balaka" fighters in the Ngaragba neighbourhood, some in military fatigues and others in jeans and shorts. Armed with AK47 assault rifles and rocket launchers, they broke open the doors to the prison. One of the fighters told the resident: "Stay at home. Show us the houses of the Muslims."
The death toll has been impossible to estimate in Central African Republic, a long lawless and desperately poor country in the heart of Africa where many roads have not been repaved since independence from France in 1960. Fabius has warned that Central African Republic is on "the verge of genocide" as communal violence escalates. Another resident, Wilfred Koyamba, told Reuters: "When Seleka entered, there were dead Christians. This time it could be worse … We need the French. The French have to come quickly."
France called for a vote on Thursday on a resolution that would authorise the deployment of an African Union-led force to Central African Republic for a year to protect civilians and restore security and public order. The AU force is replacing a regional peacekeeping mission whose presence has been mainly limited to the capital and a few northern cities. Several French armoured personnel carriers were seen driving through the streets of the riverside capital early on Thursday. Troops and vehicles were deployed outside the French embassy.
The UN resolution also would authorise French forces, for a temporary period, "to take all necessary measures" to support the AU-led force known as MISCA, whose troop numbers are expected to rise from about 2,500 to 3,500. The conflict has spread well beyond Bangui, forcing people to flee their villages. Earlier this week an attack blamed on the anti-balaka killed nearly a dozen women and children in a remote community. Marie Harf, deputy spokesperson at the US department of state, said: "This horrifying account is the latest in a string of reports that illustrate the deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in the CAR that could lead to an escalation in violence and further atrocities."
The International Crisis Group thinktank has warned that the situation on the ground is deteriorating at a much faster pace than the international response is mobilising and that the CAR is staring "into an abyss of potentially appalling proportions". It supported AU and French military action and called for immediate inter-religious dialogue and urgent reconstruction projects.
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