French forces deploy outside Central African Republic capital

[December 07, 2013]  PARIS (Reuters) — French forces started deploying to the north and east of Central African Republic on Saturday to secure main roads and towns outside the capital, French army spokesman Gilles Jarron said.

"We have started to deploy outside of Bangui," Jarron said. "The French forces pre-positioned in Cameroon have crossed the border and have started reconnaissance missions in the east."

"We have also started the first missions from Bangui towards the north of the country," he said, adding that the French contingent had now reached its full strength of 1,200 troops.

(Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; writing by John Irish; editing by Daniel Flynn)

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