French troops have begun disarming fighters in the Central African Republic after a swell in sectarian violence that has claimed hundreds of lives and terrified inhabitants.
But Paris warned the task would be difficult as former Seleka rebels who seized power in a March coup shed their combat gear to avoid detection, and clashed sporadically with soldiers dispatched to quell violence in the unstable country.
Announcing the beginning of the disarmament on Monday, the army's general staff said the process was going smoothly for the moment, despite a brief shoot-out Monday morning between soldiers and armed men near the airport.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that the disarmament would not be "an easy task".
"The problem is that many of the former Seleka (rebels) have traded their uniforms for civilian clothes... and it is difficult to identify individuals," he said on France Inter radio.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
France is deploying 1,600 soldiers to its former colony, which has plunged into chaos since the Seleka rebels seized power, with reports of widespread rape and public killings taking place.
Fabius said former Seleka rebel leader turned interim president Michel Djotodia had appealed to his former fighters to give up arms, but some have gone rogue and imposed a reign of terror in the countryside.
The capital Bangui has also been the scene of bloodshed over the past three days, and nearly 400 people have been killed in the violence, Fabius said.
"We have explained to everyone by radio and through other available media that they should bring back weapons," Fabius said.
"If this does not yield sufficient results, force will be employed," he said.
French President Francois Hollande, who sent troops into the west African country of Mali earlier this year to stop Islamists and Tuareg rebels from advancing on the capital Bamako, has said France cannot turn a blind eye to the massacres perpetrated in the Central African Republic.
But the military intervention has prompted criticism from the public over its cost at a difficult time for the French economy.
Fabius on Monday said the cost of the deployment was "minimal" as the French troops were drawn from bases in other African countries.
"If we did not intervene quickly it would have cost much more," he said.
"If in place of a few hundred killed, there had been tens of thousands of deaths we would have had in any case to intervene in a country that was totally destroyed."
France has also been anxious to avoid charges of meddling in its former African colony for political or economic reasons.
It has repeatedly emphasised that it troops are being dispatched to the CAR to reinforce a 2,500-strong African Union peacekeeping mission and that it is ultimately Africa's responsibility to tackle the various crises on the continent.
There have been no major incidents since the French deployment. French troops came under fire near the airport on Sunday and Monday, but there were no indications of casualties.
