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French soldiers killed in Central African Republic French soldiers killed in Central African Republic
(35 minutes later)
Two French soldiers were killed in combat in Central African Republic's capital, President François Hollande's office announced on Tuesday, the first French casualties since he ordered a stepped-up military presence in the restive former colony to help quell inter-religious violence. Two French soldiers have been killed in the Central African Republic after clashing with militia forces they had ordered to disarm.
The presidential Elysee Palace, in a statement, provided no details about the killings in Bangui late on Monday other than that they died during France's mission to restore security, protect civilians, and ensure access for humanitarian groups in the impoverished country. After being told of the deaths, President François Hollande announced he would fly directly from Nelson Mandela's funeral to Bangui where around 1,600 French troops have been deployed alongside 2,500 African Union forces to try to stop the bloodshed between religious factions and restore order.
French officials have warned of the dangers of the enhanced military mission alongside African Union troops, authorised under a muscular mandate approved last week by the United Nations security council. France's defence minister has warned militia groups to disarm peacefully or French troops will do it by force. The two men, from the 8th Regiment of Marine Infantry Parachutists, based at Castres in southern France, were reportedly killed overnight in an exchange of fire with former Séléka rebels, as they patrolled the perimeter of the city's airport.
The announcement of the deaths came shortly after the presidential palace said Hollande would travel to Central African Republic on Tuesday after attending a memorial in South Africa to Nelson Mandela. The seriously injured men were transported to a field hospital, but could not be saved, said military sources in the CAR.
French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said French forces were conducting patrols by foot and vehicle through the dusty streets of Bangui. At one point, they intervened to pull away a Muslim man, who claimed to be a merchant, from a mob that accused him of being a rebel leader. In a statement, Hollande's office praised their bravery and said the men, who died just five days into Operation Sangaris, had "lost their lives to save many others".
Muslim rebels known as Seleka overthrew the government of this majority Christian nation nine months ago. French troops were sent to the CAR after being given the go-ahead by the United Nations security council on Thursday, following a series of massacres that left more than 450 people dead, many of them women and children.
Bouts of violence in Central African Republic took an especially bloody turn last week with more than 400 deaths in two days of violence between Christians and Muslims. World leaders including US president Barack Obama have called for calm. They began disarming former rebels and militia who had carried out a series of bloody reprisals over recent weeks and sown terror among the population of the CAR, especially in the capital.
Members of the Séléka, a mostly Muslim coalition, as well as other armed groups, had been given an ultimatum to return to their bases and hand over their weapons.
On Monday evening, French military officials announced they were mostly satisfied with how the operation was progressing and announced that "the population is no longer threatened".
The military spokesman Colonel Gilles Jaron told journalists that most armed groups had been cleared from Bangui's streets.
"There was no fighting in Bangui. At no moment did these groups try to engage in combat against us," Jaron said.
He said French troops had come up against "furtive firing" and had briefly fired back, but he said these exchanges had now stopped.
In a statement, the Elysée presidential palace said: "The president of the republic has learned with profound sadness the deaths in combat of the two soldiers … the head of state expresses his profound respect for the sacrifice of these two soldiers and renews his full confidence in the French forces deployed, alongside the African forces, to re-establish security in the Central African Republic, to protect the population, and to guarantee access to humanitarian aid."
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