Dozens of barricades have been dismantled along the main road linking the airport with the capital Nouméa, French authorities say.
French forces trying to quell unrest in the Pacific island territory of New Caledonia have removed dozens of barricades blocking the main road linking the airport with the capital, Noumea, a senior official said.
About 60 barricades that protesters erected along the 60-kilometer road have been dismantled, but the road is not yet open because the debris needs to be removed, which will take several days, said Louis Le Franc, the territory’s high commissioner. said on Sunday.
In a televised speech, Le Franc also pledged to restore order in New Caledonia after at least six people were killed and hundreds of others injured in protests that broke out last Monday in protest against a controversial constitutional change.
The indigenous Kanak people – who make up around 40 percent of the French territory’s population – have criticized new rules that will change who is allowed to take part in elections, which local leaders fear will dilute the Kanak vote.
“The republican order will be reestablished whatever the cost,” Le Franc said on Sunday, adding that if the separatists “want to use weapons, they will be risking the worst.”
The French territory off northeastern Australia has long been wracked by pro-independence tensions, but this is the worst violence recorded in decades.
France sent troops to New Caledonia’s ports and international airport and also banned TikTok when the government imposed a state of emergency on May 16.
Three of the dead were members of the Kanak community and two were police officers.
A sixth person was killed and two seriously injured on Saturday during what French police said was a shootout between two groups at a checkpoint in Kaala-Gomen. Police did not identify the groups.
Around 600 heavily armed police and paramilitary personnel took part in the operation on Sunday to retake the main road linking the capital to the airport, authorities said.
Forces with armored vehicles and construction equipment destroyed 76 roadblocks, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a statement. a post on the social networks.
The minister said that more than 200 arrests had been made, adding that “there are still many obstacles to be raised to impose the republican order”.
Dominique Fochi, secretary-general of the territory’s main independence movement, called for calm but said the French government must suspend the constitutional change.
“We need strong actions to calm the situation, the government needs to stop adding oil to the fire,” Fochi told Reuters news agency.
The presidents of four other French overseas territories – La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean, and French Guiana in South America – called on Sunday for the withdrawal of electoral reform in an open letter.
“Only a political response can stop the increase in violence and prevent civil war”, they warned, saying that “they ask the government to withdraw the constitutional reform bill that aims to change the electoral roll… as a precursor to peaceful dialogue”.
French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a meeting of the national defense and security council on Monday evening to discuss the situation in the territory, the Elysee Palace said.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
