The US military has started transporting the first elements of a Rwandan battalion to the Central African Republic, where they will join an African Union mission.
International forces are trying to restore order after the country plunged into sectarian warfare following a March coup in which the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel group overthrew president Francois Bozize.
"We began today passenger movements for Rwandan forces from Kigali to Bangui," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
Two C-17 cargo planes flew 70 Rwandan troops with vehicles and equipment, he said.
A total of about 800 Rwandan soldiers and 70 vehicles were due to be ferried to the Central African Republic over the next three weeks, he said.
The Rwandans will be deployed with the African Union mission, which includes troops from Burundi, Cameroon, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Chad and Equatorial Guinea. The AU contingent is working alongside some 1600 French troops.
America's large fleet of cargo aircraft as well as its surveillance drones are increasingly in demand from French and AU forces after unrest in Mali, CAR and South Sudan.
Share
