France rushed troops to Central African Republic on Friday, its second major African intervention in a year, to stem Muslim-Christian violence that has claimed over 185 lives this week and threatens to broaden into civilian massacres, Reuters reported. Hundreds of soldiers started arriving from neighbouring countries, though Paris said a small detachment of French forces already stationed at Bangui airport killed a number of unidentified fighters nearby on Thursday, hours before being given a U.N. green light for the mission to restore order. Bangui residents were cautiously optimistic over French deployments but a witness in PK12, a neighbourhood, said mainly Muslim ex-rebels had killed several people in raids on houses. The former French colony has slipped into chaos since mainly Muslim rebels seized power in March, leading to tit-for-tat violence with the Christian majority. The violence on Thursday was the worst the capital has seen during the crisis. -- SPA 19:38 LOCAL TIME 16:38 GMT تغريد
