On December 11, a platoon from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) of the French Foreign Legion arrived in the Central African Republic (CAR) to reinforce the French forces having already been placed there since December 5.

The 1er REC’s legionnaires came in the Central African Republic from Gabon (a state on the west coast of Central Africa), where a squadron from the 1er REC is stationed now for a four-months mission.

The 1er REC’s platoon deployed in the Central African Republic is armed with ERC 90 Sagaie, the French six-wheeled armoured all terrain vehicle.

Around 1,600 French soldiers are placed in the Central African Republic; a large number of them from airborne and marine units. Two French soldiers were killed in action on December 9, during a patrol in Bangui, the capital of the CAR.

Currently, thousands of French soldiers are doing their service in other places of Africa too – in Mali, Cameroon, Chad or Ivory Coast.