France: France will send 1,000 soldiers in Central African Republic to bolster peace-keeping forces
France said on Tuesday it would increase its force in Central African Republic (CAR) to at least 1,000 soldiers once a U.N. resolution is passed next week to try to prevent sectarian violence from destabilising the entire region.
The landlocked nation of 4.6 million people at the heart of Africa has descended into chaos since the Séléka coalition of rebels, many of them from neighbouring Chad and Sudan, ousted President François Bozizé in March.
Séléka leader Michel Djotodia, installed as an interim president, has failed to control his mostly Muslim fighters, who have preyed upon the mainly Christian population, unleashing a wave of tit-for-tat killings.
“This is a real humanitarian concern,” France’s ambassador to the UN Gérard Araud told FRANCE 24 on Tuesday. “The CAR is collapsing and it could lead to mass atrocities, with each community trying to slaughter the other. What you have right now in the CAR, on both sides, are thugs who are raping and plundering. We need to restore law and order.”