French send troops to Central African Republic as clashes leave many civilians dead

France rushed troops to Central African Republic yesterday, its second major African intervention in a year, but clashes between Muslim and Christian militias continued unabated, spilling into widespread killings of civilians.

“This horrific cycle of violence and retaliation must stop immediately,” a United Nations spokesperson said, citing cases of rival Seleka and “anti-balaka” militias raiding homes and killing adults and children. “Civilians must be protected.”

The Red Cross said it had collected 281 bodies from two days of fighting in Bangui, but many more had been killed.

Regional security
In Paris, French president François Hollande told a meeting of African leaders the CAR crisis proved the urgent need for the continent to create its own regional security force.

“Africa must be the master of its own destiny and that means mastering its own security,” he said. Paris was ready to train 20,000 African soldiers a year and provide staff for the command structure. Hundreds of soldiers started arriving in CAR from neighbouring countries, hours after Paris was given a UN green light for the mission.

Joanna Mariner, part of an Amnesty International team in Bangui, said she had reports of pillaging and killing in the third district. “The French are patrolling on the main axes, but the city isn’t yet secure,” she added. A Reuters correspondent saw 26 bodies in the streets and in courtyards of houses in the first district, close to the centre of Bangui.

Morgue is full
Officials at Bangui's Hopital Communutaire said wounded people had been streaming in all day. Dozens of bodies had been delivered to the morgue, now so full that corpses were being stored in other parts of the hospital.

An aid worker in Bossangoa, about 300km north of the capital, said at least 30 people had been killed there.

The former French colony has slipped into chaos since mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in March, leading to tit-for-tat violence with “anti-Balaka” militia formed by the Christian majority.

Central African Republic is rich in gold, diamonds and uranium but decades of instability and conflicts in its larger neighbours have kept it mired in crisis. – (Reuters)