European Union Troops To Be Deployed To CAR

Last
month, the French began a United Nations-approved military
intervention in their former colony, the
Central African Republic (CAR), in order to help an
African peacekeeping force in putting an end to the violence
there. France currently has 1,600 troops in CAR.

The French troops in CAR are to be joined by other European
soldiers. According to the
Atlantic Sentinel troops from “Belgium, Estonia, Finland,
Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden.” could be part of the
500-strong force. According to
The Wall Street Journal, French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius has said that the troops could begin arriving in CAR by
the end of
next month.

Reuters has reported that the U.K., Germany, and
Italy have said that they will not be sending ground troops to
CAR.

Although the U.S. is not contributing troops to the peacekeeping
mission, it has provided logistical support,
having transported Rwandan and Burundian soldiers to CAR.

According to French Defense Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian, international troops have been focusing on
security in the capital, Bangui:

In the interview, Le Drian said the international troops have so
far provided focused on security in the capital, Bangui, but
“sources of violence” remain elsewhere in the country — which is
about the same size as France.

“We’ll have to deploy there,” he said. “We can do it more easily
once the Europeans arrive, by the end of February.”

The level of brutality in CAR is shocking. There have
been reports of children being
beheaded and having their throats slit, and of people being
thrown to crocodiles. According to one report, a widower
ate a man’s leg in a revenge attack. Yesterday, the
Associated Press reported that a mass grave had been discovered
outside Bangui. The French ambassador to the U.N. has said that the
French
underestimated the level of hatred between Christian and Muslim
communities.

The
United Nations says that over 1 million people have been
displaced in CAR, and one of its senior envoys recently said that
the country is in a
“mega-crisis.”