France Deploys Additional Forces To Quell New Caledonia Unrest

France on Thursday announced it would send additional security forces to New Caledonia after imposing a state of emergency, following three nights of clashes in its Pacific territory that have left five dead and hundreds wounded

Noumea, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th May, 2024) France on Thursday announced it would send additional security forces to New Caledonia after imposing a state of emergency, following three nights of clashes in its Pacific territory that have left five dead and hundreds wounded.

Largely indigenous protests against a French plan to impose new voting rules on the archipelago have spiralled into the deadliest violence since the 1980s.

New Caledonia, which lies between Australia and Fiji 17,000 kilometres (10,600 miles) from Paris, is one of several territories around the globe that remain part of France in the post-colonial era.

Palm-lined boulevards in the capital Noumea, which are usually thronged with tourists, were littered with debris and patrolled by armoured vehicles, while some locals piled up household objects to make roadblocks.

A gendarme was killed on Thursday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told AFP, bringing to two the number of police officers who have died.

A police source told AFP he was killed by friendly fire.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said Paris would send "around 1,000 additional internal security personnel" to New Caledonia -- adding to 1,700 on the ground -- and push for "the harshest penalties for rioters and looters".

Late Wednesday he told a ministerial crisis meeting that troops had been deployed to secure ports and the international airport in New Caledonia, which has been closed to commercial flights.

TikTok had been banned because it was being used by protesters, he said.

In Noumea, there was a suspected arson attack on the building housing a consultative body for the indigenous Kanak people, its staff said, although the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

Security forces placed five suspected ringleaders under house arrest, according to the high commission, which represents the French state in New Caledonia.

More than 200 of an estimated 5,000 "rioters" in greater Noumea have been arrested, the high commission said.

It added that "people have been ambushing law enforcement officers" with "sustained fire from hunting rifles".

Hundreds of people, including 64 police, have been wounded, officials said, among the territory's population of around 270,000.