France Boosts Africa Force

Updated Dec. 5, 2013 5:22 p.m. ETThe United Nations unanimously authorized the use of military force to quell ethnic violence in the Central African Republic as a surge of fighting in the country’s capital on Thursday left at least 50 people dead.

French soldiers stand on a road to Central African Republic. The U.N. on Thursday cleared the way for France to reinforce multinational African troops already on the ground. AFP/Getty Images

A resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council denounced the unrest in the landlocked country and cleared the way for France to mobilize about 1,200 troops to restore order alongside a multinational African force.
“Today, France is called upon to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe,” French President François Hollande said in a televised address, adding that French troops could act within hours.
France already has 600 troops in the country and the rest are expected to arrive in the coming days, a step that expands the country’s role intervening in Africa’s conflicts.
Fighting erupted in the country since March, when a coalition of rebels—who practice a loose strain of Islam and call themselves Seleka, or “alliance”—seized the capital Bangui, ousting the president. That prompted reprisals from bands of predominantly Christian militants known as the anti-Balaka, or “anti-machete.”

Civilians wounded in a surge of fighting in the Central African Republic await medical treatment Thursday at a hospital in the capital Bangui. Jerome Delay/Associated Press

On Thursday, the anti-Balaka attacked Bangui for the first time, according to officials and witnesses. Militants swarmed the city in an assault that witnesses described as a campaign to exact revenge before the French and African forces are fully assembled. Militants who fought for Seleka—which is now disbanded—repelled the attack, racing in pickup trucks through Bangui, according to witnesses reached by telephone.
Relief workers counted more than 50 bodies from Thursday’s fighting, with the dead arriving at hospitals from “all over the town,” said Rosa Crestani, a local emergency coordinator with Doctors Without Borders. The city’s threadbare first responders were treating more than 100 patients, she said, adding the casualties represented a mix of ethnic groups and religions.

A severely wounded man lies unattended in a mosque in Bangui, Central African Republic, on Thursday. Associated Press

Under the U.N. resolution, France and Misca, the multinational African force, are granted the use of “all necessary measures,” including offensive action. The French troops are expected to mobilize in tandem with the African force.
The deployment comes as France is pushing to broaden international involvement in the mission amid skepticism at home over whether it is stretching itself too thin in the region.
For decades, France has played the role of regional cop, partly due to its history as the former colonial power in much of Africa, including the Central African Republic. In January, Mr. Hollande sent thousands of troops to Mali to fight Islamist forces that threatened to topple the government. France is pushing to withdraw some of those forces by the end of the year.

This weekend Mr. Hollande hosts a security summit on Africa, where he is expected to press African leaders to step up military cooperation so France can let go of its role policing the region. France is also pushing its European neighbors to play a bigger role in international crisis management, an issue that will top the agenda of a European Union summit on Dec. 19.
The White House said on Thursday that the fighting demanded an international response and welcomed the U.N. resolution. The Obama administration has asked Congress to approve $40 million to provide logistical support and training for the African force. The U.K. won’t send troops, a Ministry of Defense spokesman said, but could provide some logistical support. The African force will be financed by a new U.N. trust fund made up of voluntary contributions from governments, according to the resolution. Eric Massi, head of the civil aviation authority and an ally of acting President Michel Djotodia, welcomed the imminent intervention of the French forces.
The resolution doesn’t establish a timetable for the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force that could take over from MISCA and the French. Such a step would force the U.S. to commit more funding.
Central African Republic has been tugged at by its disparate ethnic groups since independence in 1960. For much of the past two decades, militias have organized themselves along ethnic lines, battling for the spoils of government. The recent rise of the Seleka has unleashed a spree of violence, retribution, and looting across the country’s remote interior. Bodies frequently float down the river in Bangui, according to aid workers. About a tenth of the population of about 4.5 million has fled.
Each side has accused the other of stoking tensions between Muslims and Christians. On Thursday, it was the anti-Balaka who went on the offensive.
“They want revenge,” said Lord-Esaie Nganamokoi, a former spokesman under the toppled regime of President François Bozizé. “It’s that simple.”
“We need it,” Mr. Massi said. “The security forces, made up of former Seleka fighters, don’t have the capacity to stabilize the entire country.”
Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com, Drew Hinshaw at drew.hinshaw@wsj.com and Alexis Flynn at alexis.flynn@wsj.com

Read more here: France Boosts Africa Force