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The last batch of French soldiers deployed in the Central African Republic (CAR) left the capital Bangui. According to some reports, the last batch of the 130 soldiers who made up the contingent had left the Central African Republic in recent weeks
The last batch of French soldiers deployed in the Central African Republic (CAR) left the capital Bangui. According to some reports, the last batch of the 130 soldiers who made up the contingent had left the Central African Republic in recent weeks.
The departure of French troops from the erstwhile French colony comes almost four months after the exit of French troops from Mali. The trigger for the French army exiting after their long presence in the region was the presence of Russian mercenaries known as Wagner, members of a private company having close links with the Russian administration. France considered that the conditions were no longer conducive for them to continue working for the Central African armed forces including training them to combat the sporadic troubles that erupted in the country sporadically. As a result of this, Paris decided to suspend its military cooperation with Bangui. France accuses these paramilitaries of committing abuses against civilians.
The Central African Republic has been facing turmoil since the civil war in 2013, when a coalition of armed groups with a Muslim majority, the Séléka, overthrew President François Bozizé. The latter, then organised and armed the so-called anti-Balaka militias, which are mainly Christian and animist, to try to regain power.
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France deployed more than 1,000 soldiers to the Central African Republic in 2013 as part of Operation Sangaris to put an end to inter-community violence. The conflict in the Central African Republic, which has been extremely deadly for civilians, peaked in 2018 and then subsided. Both Séléka and anti-balaka have been accused by the UN of committing numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity.
