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Nearly 400 dead in last 3 days in CAR: French FM

Iran Press TV

Sun Dec 8, 2013 3:56PM GMT

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says almost 400 people have lost their lives in the last three days of violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), alleging that calm and order has been restored in the capital Bangui.

"We have counted 394 dead in the last three days. Calm has returned to Bangui even if there are still some abuses here and there," Fabius told France 3 television network on Sunday.

"There are a certain number of operations under way throughout the country, and operations to disarm Seleka will begin," he added.

On Saturday, French President Francois Hollande said the number of French troops operating in the violence-stricken CAR will rise to 1,600, 400 more than previously envisaged by the UN resolution.

He further stated that Paris would try to gather support from its European Union partners, including Britain and Germany, in an effort to help fund a pan-African military force capable of intervening in crises similar to the current one in the CAR.

"Our role is loud and clear, and it is first of all a security role. The order has been given to disarm and confine to quarters, we are doing this with the Africans," the French foreign minister pointed out.

He went on to say that "The problem is that some (Seleka fighters) are abandoning their fatigues to dress as civilians, making it difficult."

On December 5, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the CAR.

On Saturday, French troops poured into the Central African Republic, which has been gripped by unrest since Seleka rebels seized control of the impoverished landlocked country in March, ousting former President Francois Bozize.

The mission in the CAR is France's second military intervention in Africa in 2013. In January, Paris dispatched more than 4,000 troops to Mali, launching a fierce war against the militants in the country.

MP/PR