French forces on Sunday launched a major operation to regain access to parts of Noumea and allow the airport to reopen
France says about 1,000 additional security force members have been sent to New Caledonia to quell violence, sparked by plans for new rules that would give some non-Indigenous residents voting rights.France says about 1,000 additional security force members have been sent to New Caledonia to quell violence, sparked by plans for new rules that would give some non-Indigenous residents voting rights.
Protesters have set vehicles, businesses and public buildings alight and taken control of the main road to La Tontouta International Airport, which has been forced to close to commercial flights.Authorities say about 230 people have been detained while an estimated 3,200 people are either stuck in New Caledonia or unable to return to the archipelago.
Groups set two fires and raided a petrol station, Le Franc’s office said, as well as destroying schools, pharmacies and supermarkets. “Every night we had to sleep with one eye open … worried that they were coming in to loot us,” he said. “This morning at an exit near here, the gendarmerie was coming through and there was a shootout.”Almost two centuries on, its politics remain dominated by debate about whether the islands should be part of France, autonomous or independent – with opinions split roughly along ethnic lines.
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