The last French troops deployed in the Central African Republic left on Thursday following a chill in relations caused by closer ties between Bangui and Moscow, APA reports citing France 24.
Forty-seven troops from a logistical support unit left Bangui airport aboard a C-130 transporter aircraft, becoming the last of a 130-person French contingent to leave the troubled country.
France, the former colonial power, dispatched up to 1,600 troops to help stabilise the country after a coup in 2013 unleashed a civil war along sectarian lines.
The operation, named Sangaris, was France's seventh military intervention in the CAR since the country gained independence in 1960.
It wound up in October 2016 after elections, leaving a residual French presence.
Over the last few years, friction has grown between France and CAR over a mounting Russian military presence.
In December 2020, President Faustin Archange Touadera brought in Russian paramilitaries to help him fend off rebel groups advancing on the capital.
The CAR describes the Russians as military advisers but France, the UN and others say they are mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner group, who have been linked with atrocities and looting of resources.
Paris last year decided to suspend military cooperation with Bangui, deeming it complicit in an anti-French campaign allegedly steered by Russia.
"France decided that the conditions were no longer appropriate for us to continue working for the benefit of the Central African armed forces," General Francois-Xavier Mabin, commander of French forces in Gabon, told AFP.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
