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Djibouti, December 12, 2009 – Twelve special forces
commandos arrived first. They landed at Arta, a barren patch of
Djibouti's jagged coastline some 80km from the capital city. After
scrambling from their boats they climbed the hills quickly towards the
area's only radio mast.
A brick was attached to its base and a loud explosion rocked the
spectators nearby; that was the signal for the army to storm the beach.
This was a rare demonstration of France's armed forces in action in the
Horn of Africa.
The exercise, seen as crucial for battle preparedness in a region
infamous for its fractious politics, included all the country's military
sectors - sea, land and air.
As desert tanks zoomed onto the shore Mirage jets criss-crossed the open
sky. Meanwhile, land troops were dispatched from the mouths of armored
personnel carriers and helicopters airlifted artillery guns onto the
ground.
"It's a show of force. It shows what France is able to do militarily,"
said one army officer.
The troops taking part are a contingent of a 2,500-strong force based in
Djibouti. Originally built in the colonial era to balance Britain's
regional base in Aden, it now sits across from America's Camp Lermonier.
In recent years French troops in Djibouti have been involved in a number
of humanitarian and military missions in Africa. They helped reinforce
the UN brigade patrolling Côte d'Ivoire and last year provided
logistical and tactical help to Djiboutian soldiers warding off an
attack from neighboring Eritrea.
For the time being, the first theatre of combat these troops will see is
Afghanistan, where France is part of the Nato contingent. The
mountainous, arid countryside closely resembles Djibouti's own
undulating moonscape.
"In addition to keeping our own forces we have to help the African
peacekeepers tackle the problems themselves," said Commandant Etienne du
Fayet, spokesperson for the French army in Djibouti. "For example,
French officers are going to be training a contingent in Uganda next
February and we are also going to Ethiopia."
That's part of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's new military policy in
Africa which focuses on trying to build up indigenous military
organizations and thus avoid direct intervention.
Nevertheless, on the day of the exercise a crisis was unfolding on
Djibouti's southern border less than 200km away; the specter of
Somalia's Islamist inspired anarchy.
Source: Radio France Internationale
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