{{ÂFrench lawmakers on Tuesday approved an extension of the country’s military operation in the Central African Republic as the UN warned of a potential new bloodbath in the troubled African state. }}
Despite misgivings among some that French troops have been put into an uncontrollable situation in the former colony, deputies in the National Assembly voted 428-14 (with 21 abstentions) in favour of authorising the mission, which was launched in early December, to continue beyond April.
The approval had been anticipated with deputies almost unanimously agreeing that, whatever their reservations, pulling out the 2,000 French troops now in the CAR was not a viable option.
It came as the UN’s refugee body said more than 15,000 people were surrounded and under threat of armed attack in locations in the northwest and southwest of the country.
UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva that the vulnerable — mainly members of the minority Muslim community — were “at very high risk of attack” and urgently needed better security in the form of more international peacekeepers.
Although the situation in CAR remains extremely volatile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday it would have been a lot worse if France had not intervened.
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