Deadly clashes erupted in CAR as France ends military mission
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BANGUINov 01, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
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Nov 01, 2016 12:00 am
The Central African Republic's capital was rocked by deadly overnight clashes as France's defence minister was due Monday to formally end a military operation there, hailing it as a "success." France's Operation Sangaris was condemned by international human rights groups as its troops have come under intense pressure since July 2014 over allegations of child rape.
Local sources said about 10 people had been killed in a settling of scores between armed groups Sunday night in Bangui's restive Muslim PK5 neighborhood.
The toll had yet to be confirmed by the UN force MINUSCA -- which will be alone in facing the militia terrorizing civilians now that France is ending its Sangaris operation, begun three years ago to halt mass killings in the former French colony.
Residents were continuing to flee the area around PK5 on Monday, fearing further violence. A helicopter from the international force circled over the city from dawn, an AFP correspondent said.
The clashes came just after French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived Sunday to close the Sangaris mission, launched at the end of 2013 to prevent a feared genocide after president Francois Bozize was ousted from power. "France will never abandon Central Africa," Le Drian vowed in an interview with RFI radio and France 24 television as he arrived.
Around 350 French troops, equipped with observation drones, will remain present in CAR, around 100 of them deployed with the UN, the French government says.
One of the world's poorest countries, CAR has scarcely emerged from the chaos of civil war which erupted in 2013 following the overthrow of Bozize, a Christian, by Muslim rebels from the Seleka coalition who installed their own leader. The conflict in CAR since 2013 has left thousands of people dead and forced 4.5 million to flee their homes.
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