French special forces have taken up positions in the main town of the strife-torn Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The deployment in Bunia to secure the airport is in preparation for the arrival of international peacekeeping troops.
Colonel Christian Baptiste said there had been no one wounded in what he called the "preliminary phase" of the operation, codenamed "Artemis".
He said the peacekeeping forces would start arriving in the coming days but gave no specifics.
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The United Nations Security Council last Friday sanctioned a heavily armed French-led international force to deploy around the town of Bunia after a recent resurgence in ethnic unrest in Ituri killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands.
AFP