France targets Ivorian air force

Prozac the Robert · Post by **Prozac the Robert** » 2004-11-06 02:46pm

France targets Ivorian air force
French President Jacques Chirac has ordered any Ivorian planes used in recent air raids to be destroyed after the death of eight French peacekeepers.
French forces destroyed two Ivory Coast government planes on the ground at an airbase soon after the bombing, which also left 23 French soldiers injured.

They are the highest losses suffered by the former colonial power since it began deploying 4,000 troops last year.

Two additional companies are being dispatched to beef up the force.

A statement from the presidential palace in Paris said one US citizen was also killed in the Ivorian air strike on its troops at Bouake.

The president, it continued, had ordered the "immediate destruction of Ivorian military aircraft used in recent days in violation of the ceasefire".

Such action, the French statement said, was authorised by the United Nations mandate covering France's peacekeepers in Ivory Coast.

Along with the extra companies, France is redeploying three Mirage jets to the region.

'Aggression'

The French defence ministry earlier announced in Paris that two Ivorian Sukhoi-25 bombers had bombed a position of its Unicorn Force in Bouake at 1400 French time (1300 GMT) on Saturday.

IVORY COAST'S PEACE UNRAVELS
29 Sept: Ivorian parliament fails to agree citizenship laws, which were a key requirement of the January 2003 peace deal
13 Oct: Ivorian rebels say they will not disarm, as planned, until immigration laws are changed
28 Oct: Vendors selling newspapers accused of supporting the opposition are attacked by pro-government militants in Abidjan and southern towns
The New Forces order eight rebel ministers to return to the rebel-held north, saying it had discovered the government smuggling arms across its territory
4 Nov: Government launches air strikes on rebel-held territory in north
5 Nov: More government air strikes and clashes on the ground in north, as unrest erupts in Abidjan
Nov 6: French forces destroy two government warplanes after an air strike leaves French soldiers dead
"In response to this aggression, the Unicorn Force destroyed the two Sukhoi-25s at around 1415 [1315] at Yamoussoukro," it added.

Defence ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said the army had "responded in a situation of legitimate defense" and was now seeking "the immediate end of combat".

Survivors of the attack were evacuated to Abidjan, said Col Gerard Dubois, another French military spokesman in Paris, who did not indicate how badly injured they were.

An Ivorian military spokesman, Col Philipe Mangou, confirmed for AFP that the two Soviet-made ground attack planes were destroyed by the French at Yamoussoukro Airport.

The French military did not give details of how they were destroyed.

The former colonial power has ordered three Mirage F1CR jets based in Chad to be redeployed to nearby Gabon, as a precaution.

Caught in the middle

French peacekeepers, more usually accused by government supporters of siding with the rebels, faced violent protests earlier on Saturday in the rebel-held town of Mans as well as clashing with government supporters in Abidjan.

An angry group protested outside the French military barracks in Mans, accusing the French of colluding with the government and failing to stop attacks on rebel territory.
A French military spokesman said two vehicles had been burnt and a storeroom looted.

On Friday, UN troops stopped three columns of Ivorian army vehicles advancing into what is known as the "confidence zone" - a buffer area between the two sides. In one incident, soldiers fired warning shots.

Tensions reached boiling point in Ivory Coast after a disarmament deadline of 15 October was missed and rebels withdrew from the unity government.

The African Union voiced deep concern on Saturday, calling for both the government and rebels to refrain from any further violations of the truce they signed last year after a bitter civil war which split the country.

Neither side attended emergency talks hosted in Nigeria by President Olusegun Obasanjo, who chairs the AU.

The country has been split in two since last year's peace deal, with 10,000 French and UN troops deployed to monitor the ceasefire.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/a ... 989127.stm

Published: 2004/11/06 18:26:18 GMT

© BBC MMIV

Link.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-11-06 04:32pm

See, this is why no one respects the French army, its because the name military groups "unicorn force".

But, in other news, enemy troops killed an American civilian, so now we're gonna have to do something.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-11-07 05:43am

I didn't even know the Ivory Coast had an AF, let alone Su-25s.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman · Post by **Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman** » 2004-11-07 07:48am

Is the French task force there led by a Frechman?

If that's the case, then the Ivorian has absolutely nothing to worry about.

Oberleutnant · Post by **Oberleutnant** » 2004-11-07 01:17pm

CNN

CNN wrote:France boosts Ivory Coast force
Government offers cease-fire after violent clashes

Sunday, November 7, 2004 Posted: 1657 GMT (0057 HKT)

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- France was flying in hundreds of extra soldiers to Ivory Coast and the West African nation said it was pulling back its troops following the worst violence seen between France and its former colony in decades.

The French military said it sent 300 soldiers to Ivory Coast early Sunday from the West African nation of Gabon, where three newly scrambled Mirage fighter jets were on standby.

On Saturday, nine French soldiers and a U.S. citizen were killed and 23 people were wounded when government warplanes bombed a French position in the north.

The government said the bombing was unintended, but the French retaliated by destroying what it said was the entire Ivory Coast air force -- five helicopter gunships and the two Russian-made Sukhoi warplanes used in the bombing.

On Sunday, the first French reinforcements landed at Abidjan's international airport, which French forces took late Saturday after destroying the aircraft.

Another 300 soldiers and a squadron of gendarmes were leaving for Ivory Coast from France later in the day, Reuters quoted the defense ministry as saying.

Still more reinforcements appeared headed toward Abidjan from the capital Yamoussoukro. A photographer for The Associated Press reported seeing 20 heavy vehicles carrying French troops toward Abidjan.

In the face of the French buildup, Ivory Coast officials offered a cease-fire and said government troops would withdraw from the front lines.

Presidential spokesman Desire Tagro said troops would end their offensive on rebel territory and pull back into the peacekeeper-manned buffer zone between the rebel-held north and government-controlled south, AP reported.

"Let us cease fire," National Assembly president Mamadou Koulibaly told state television, offering to return to a truce broken by Ivory Coast's resumption of attacks Thursday.

Col. Philippe Mangou, commander of Ivory Coast's ground offensive, told soldiers in the capital to withdraw.

"It is with death in my soul, with many regrets and with tears in my eyes that I ask you to pull back from your positions because unfortunately we have lost our air power," Reuters quoted him as saying.

Machete-waving mobs

Saturday's bombing and retaliation sparked battles between government supporters and French forces in Abidjan, the commercial capital on the southern coast.

Thousands of angry government supporters, some waving machetes, looted and burned Abidjan on Sunday, laying to a French military base and searching houses for French families, AP reported.

About 100 people were stranded at the airport, and smoke billowed from the suburb of Cocody after an attack on a French school.

Government loyalists were stationed at roadblocks in the city, attacking cars holding suspected foreigners.

Numerous French families contacted French authorities in Ivory Coast overnight, saying their homes were being attacked and looted, AP quoted French military spokesman Henry Aussavy as saying.

Aussavy said French forces were battling to hold back the mobs, dropping percussion grenades on mobs massing at bridges, the international airport and the military base in Abidjan.

French troops also fired tear gas and warning shots from a helicopter to disperse the mobs, Reuters said.

A French military helicopter swept in Sunday afternoon to rescue trapped civilians from an Abidjan hotel, airlifting about a dozen to safety with their suitcases.

About 150 people were wounded in Abidjan, most from bullets, AP quoted a Red Cross official as saying.

Foreigners were advised to stay indoors, and the United States on Sunday warned its citizens to avoid traveling to Ivory Coast because of the violence.

'All necessary means'

France and the United Nations have demanded that Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo restore order.

Meeting in emergency session Saturday, the U.N. Security Council condemned the initial attack on French forces and called for the "immediate cessation" of military operations in accordance with a May cease-fire agreement.

The council authorized French and other peacekeepers to use "all necessary means" to stop the fighting.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Danforth said the council understands that "France is clearly going to defend French troops and French citizens that are under attack."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan phoned Gbagbo twice to urge him to end the violence, Reuters reported.

The violence came on the same day the African Union condemned air strikes by Ivory Coast government forces on former rebel targets in the north and center of the country.

However, Ivory Coast said it would ask the U.N. Security Council to take action against France.

Presidential spokesman Tagro told state television: "We are faced with aggression by one country against another country. We are going to inform the entire world ... that France has come to attack us."

France said Sunday it sent troops to Ivory Coast to ensure security, not destabilize the country.

"That is all that this is about, ensuring security. Security, not destabilization," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said in a statement.

"In no way is France there to destabilize the Ivory Coast and its institutions or take sides. Its aim above all is to preserve constitutional legality. There is no hidden agenda," he added.

Ivory Coast has been split between the loyalist south and rebel-held north since an attempted coup in September 2002 triggered a civil war. The nation gained its independence from France in 1960.

A total of 6,000 U.N. peacekeepers and 4,000 French soldiers have been trying to keep the peace in the buffer zone between north and south.

CNN's Jeff Koinange contributed to this report.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2004-11-07 01:32pm

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:Is the French task force there led by a Frechman?

If that's the case, then the Ivorian has absolutely nothing to worry about.

If the Foreign Legion is there, than the Ivorians better start running for the hills. Those guys don't fuck around.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-11-07 04:14pm

linky

Ivory Coast has accused French troops of killing unarmed civilians to avenge the death of nine French peacekeepers.

Parliament speaker Mamadou Coulibaly said the French had killed 30 people and wounded more than 100 in the main cities of Abidjan and Yamassoukro.

The French have denied this - saying they fired warning shots on protesters near Abidjan airport and a French base.

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2004-11-07 06:20pm

Vympel wrote:I didn't even know the Ivory Coast had an AF, let alone Su-25s.

It's generally safe to assume that every crappy hole-in-the-ground country has an air force. Somehow, some way, no matter how impoverished a country is, it'll somehow scrape together enough money to buy some planes, fuel, and bombs and pay somebody (often a mercenary) to go bomb the mud huts of the neighboring shithole country or nearest rival ethnic group.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2004-11-07 06:23pm

Mayabird wrote:
It's generally safe to assume that every crappy hole-in-the-ground country has an air force. Somehow, some way, no matter how impoverished a country is, it'll somehow scrape together enough money to buy some planes, fuel, and bombs and pay somebody (often a mercenary) to go bomb the mud huts of the neighboring shithole country or nearest rival ethnic group.

New Zealand doesn't have one.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-11-07 06:25pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Mayabird wrote:
It's generally safe to assume that every crappy hole-in-the-ground country has an air force. Somehow, some way, no matter how impoverished a country is, it'll somehow scrape together enough money to buy some planes, fuel, and bombs and pay somebody (often a mercenary) to go bomb the mud huts of the neighboring shithole country or nearest rival ethnic group.
New Zealand doesn't have one.

So the mud huts of Australia are safe. This is good.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2004-11-07 06:41pm

Petrosjko wrote:
So the mud huts of Australia are safe. This is good.

Even if they still had one, their olds A-4's didn't have the range to get to Australia's mud huts.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-11-07 06:52pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Petrosjko wrote:
So the mud huts of Australia are safe. This is good.
Even if they still had one, their olds A-4's didn't have the range to get to Australia's mud huts.

Actually they still do have a few C-130's in service, and a C-130 with bombs shoved off the loading ramp by hand is ideal for the Counter Hut Bombardment Mission.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2004-11-07 06:53pm

Sea Skimmer wrote: Actually they still do have a few C-130's in service, and a C-130 with bombs shoved off the loading ramp by hand is ideal for the Counter Hut Bombardment Mission.

I just had a mental picture of some poor aborignal looking up and seeing a C-130 flying over dropping a Daisy Cutter.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-11-07 06:56pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
I just had a mental picture of some poor aborignal looking up and seeing a C-130 flying over dropping a Daisy Cutter.

Daisy Cutter? That's far too advanced. WW2 surplus Japanese bombs dug out of Pacific island dumps and still strapped to the pallets they where loaded onto the plane with, that's what you drop.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2004-11-07 07:02pm

Sea Skimmer wrote: Daisy Cutter? That's far too advanced. WW2 surplus Japanese bombs dug out of Pacific island dumps and still strapped to the pallets they where loaded onto the plane with, that's what you drop.

Given the state of New Zealands forces, thats a pretty accurate picture you've painted. Maybe they can get a good deal on US Vietnam surplus munitions. One in five gaurenteed to detonate!

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-11-07 11:14pm

Cpl Kendall wrote: Given the state of New Zealands forces, thats a pretty accurate picture you've painted. Maybe they can get a good deal on US Vietnam surplus munitions. One in five gaurenteed to detonate!

I'm sure the Vietnamese or Cambodians won't mind if they dug a few out of the jungle. The dud rate was never quite that bad though, even amoung the bombs so old they got sold for scrap to companies in Europe, then where bought back at several times the price when the shortage hit with force.

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2004-11-08 05:27am

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Petrosjko wrote:
So the mud huts of Australia are safe. This is good.
Even if they still had one, their olds A-4's didn't have the range to get to Australia's mud huts.

Yes they did....with half the strike loaded with fuel stores and a one way ticket..But damnit, we could Bomb Aussie Mud Huts!

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2004-11-08 05:36am

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote: Daisy Cutter? That's far too advanced. WW2 surplus Japanese bombs dug out of Pacific island dumps and still strapped to the pallets they where loaded onto the plane with, that's what you drop.
Given the state of New Zealands forces, thats a pretty accurate picture you've painted. Maybe they can get a good deal on US Vietnam surplus munitions. One in five gaurenteed to detonate!

Ill tell you an interesting story. I work in the museum business, and I had the pleasure one day of visiting the RNZAF Museum, very easy, its five minutes down the road from my place at Wigram Base. Anyhoo, I was yakking with the chaps and they mentioned this Huey they got from US forces. At the hand over it was mentioned that we could not use it, for political reasons no doubt, what was funny was the fact that this US chopper that was being put into our museum was newer than the ones we currently have in service.

Btw, RNZAF Museum, Wigram is still very much an Air Force outfit, yet Air Force do not have acces to it..cuase the theaving sods had a tendency to fly in in the dead of night with a Herky and raid the place for parts.

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2004-11-08 05:38am

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Cpl Kendall wrote: Given the state of New Zealands forces, thats a pretty accurate picture you've painted. Maybe they can get a good deal on US Vietnam surplus munitions. One in five gaurenteed to detonate!
I'm sure the Vietnamese or Cambodians won't mind if they dug a few out of the jungle. The dud rate was never quite that bad though, even amoung the bombs so old they got sold for scrap to companies in Europe, then where bought back at several times the price when the shortage hit with force.

*grins smugly* not a bad Idea, I have no doubt that we could salvage F4's and get them going..we have done it before with US stuff that has been written of as to hard.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman · Post by **Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman** » 2004-11-08 10:12am

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:Is the French task force there led by a Frechman?

If that's the case, then the Ivorian has absolutely nothing to worry about.
If the Foreign Legion is there, than the Ivorians better start running for the hills. Those guys don't fuck around.

Hence the name: *Foreign* Legion.

Anyway, a thing I've particularly noticed about the French is that their elite force is actually, um, *FOREIGN* Legion.

Ma Deuce · Post by **Ma Deuce** » 2004-11-08 10:29am

Anyway, a thing I've particularly noticed about the French is that their elite force is actually, um, *FOREIGN* Legion.

Well, the Legion's officers are French, but of course the rank-and-file enlisted men and non-coms (who make up the bulk of any military force) are foreigners...

Ma Deuce · Post by **Ma Deuce** » 2004-11-08 11:53pm

MKSheppard wrote:Ivory Coast has accused French troops of killing unarmed civilians to avenge the death of nine French peacekeepers.

Parliament speaker Mamadou Coulibaly said the French had killed 30 people and wounded more than 100 in the main cities of Abidjan and Yamassoukro.

The French have denied this - saying they fired warning shots on protesters near Abidjan airport and a French base.

And now, the French are reaping the rewards:

Augustus · Post by **Augustus** » 2004-11-09 09:11am

No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-11-09 09:24am

Augustus wrote:No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!
No Blood for Coco!

in Portugese Coco means shit

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2004-11-09 09:31am

Col. Crackpot wrote: in Portugese Coco means shit

No it doesn't. It means coconut. Cocó means shit (but is a children's word). A whole different word. Portuguese is fun

Edit: and they're all french there anyway. Blergh. Portugal should have claimed all Africa, Asia and America, first to arrive gets the prize and all that and then the world would be a better place and I wouldn't need to learn strange languages.