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BANGUI. — France vowed yesterday to finish its job in the Central African Republic after the death of two elite soldiers highlighted the risks of a mission to disarm rogue rebels who have plunged the country into chaos. The soldiers, both members of the crack 8th Parachute regiment based at Castres in south-western France, died after being caught up in a fierce firefight during a night patrol in the capital Bangui, where bloody sectarian clashes left hundreds dead last week.
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the first French losses would have no impact on the tactics or the size of the 1 600-strong force Paris has deployed in its troubled former colony.
The troops are there to support an African contingent that is due to grow from 2 500 men.
But so far it has been the French who have been at the sharp end of the operation.
“I think that with those numbers we will be able to restore peace and security across the country,” Le Drian said.
“There was an unusually violent confrontation. The two soldiers were brought back to the army hospital at the airport but they died of their injuries. “There is no such thing as an easy military operation.
There is always a lot of risk but it is vital that we disarm these militias.” Violence resumes at lower level French officials announced on Monday that Bangui had largely been cleared of marauding armed groups.
Lower-level violence resumed yesterday however, with Muslim-owned shops in the Combatants quarter of the town being looted. The owners were taken out of the area by African troops for their own safety.
AFP reporters witnessed at least two pick-ups full of armed men circulating in the town while French troops had set up a roadblock on the main road north from the capital to check everyone coming in and out for weapons. — AFP.
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