The number of police and gendarmes on the island will rise to 2,700 from 1,700 by Friday afternoon, the High Commissioner of the Republic of New Caledonia said.
Areas in New Caledonia remain outside state control, with tension remaining high both in the capital, Noumea, and in the suburbs after days of unrest, according to a French government spokesman.
Louis Le France, High Commissioner of the Republic to New Caledonia, announced the deployment of more security forces. The number of police and gendarmes on the island will rise to 2,700 from 1,700 by Friday afternoon.
“Reinforcements will arrive to control the areas that have been cordoned off for the past few days,” Le France told reporters during a briefing, while announcing that a man suspected of homicide had been handed over to authorities.
After the riots that began on Monday, with five dead and hundreds of arrests, Thursday night was relatively calm, he said. However, there were still points of tension and concern in Noumea.
Le France said operations to provide food and medicine to the public would begin with teams, including demining specialists, removing roadblocks.
New Caledonia’s government said in a statement Friday that the island has two months’ worth of food and the problem lies in distribution.
At a press conference on Friday morning, Le France said “several hundred” rioters remained in the districts of Kaméré, Montravel and Vallée-du-tir, where the situation was still very difficult.
In the working-class districts of Noumea, which have a large population of indigenous Kanak people, buildings were burned and damaged vehicles remain in the middle of the road. The official death toll was five, including two police officers. The other three victims were indigenous Kanaks.
Source :Skai
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