Some 170 French soldiers to participate in the European Union (EU) operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrived in Uganda today as the peacekeeping force begins to take shape.
The soldiers, who included radio technicians, doctors and air traffic controllers, arrived aboard an Airbus-310 plane, which was closely followed by another huge Russian Antonov cargo plane, both belonging to the French airforce.
The Antonov carried some 90 tonnes of equipment, including medical and communications gears, officials at the airport said.
Commander of the advance French force in Entebbe, Colonel Denis Koehl, had said Saturday that renewed fighting between rival tribal militias in Bunia would not affect deployment plans of an EU peacekeeping force.
The arrival of the 170 soldiers brings to 230 the number of French troops already in the region, out of about 700 that will be deployed under the EU force.
France has also deployed five Mirage 200D and the same number of Mirage Folks I fighters to offer aerial cover to landing and taking off aircraft.
Clashes between fighters of ethnic Lendu majority and minority Hemas, who have controlled the town since mid-May, erupted on Saturday, a day after an advance team of about a dozen French special forces and four British soldiers landed at Bunia airport.
Inter-ethnic violence in the Ituri region of northeast DRC has claimed some 50,000 lives and displaced an estimated 500,000 others since 1999.
AFP