[notes 2][6] In late 2012, President François Bozizé requested international aid from France and the US to fend off the Séléka, a rebel movement that had progressed to the vicinity of the capital Bangui.

[11][12] In October 2013, fighting broke out between Séléka elements and Christian self-defence militias called anti-balakas, and the State lost its ability to maintain order.

[17][18][19][20] On 5 December 2013, Resolution 2127 was unanimously voted by the United Nations Security Council to allow an African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) to be deployed for a 12-month duration to restore order and end religious tensions.

They were equipped with around 20 heavy engineering machines, sent over in an Antonov An-124[24][25] This group, quickly reinforced with elements from Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, was tasked with the restoration of the runways and of the logistic areas, as well as enlarging the passenger zones.

[24] On 28 November 2013, the BPC Dixmude, escorted by aviso Commandant L'Herminier, reached Douala harbour in Cameroon,[26] ferrying 350 soldiers of the 11th Parachute Brigade and two Gazelle helicopters.

[notes 3][27] By 5 December 2013, the French military deployment in Bangui was over 600 strong, including 240 permanently detached from Opération Boali, a parallel peace-keeping operation ongoing in the Central African Republic since 2002.

Following Resolution 2127 of the United Nations Security Council, Sangaris officially began in the night of the 5 to 6 December, when General Francisco Soriano, commanding the operation, arrived in Bangui.

[29] On the 5th, while French troops were securing the approaches to M’Poko Airport, where 2000 civilians had fled from the fighting, they sustained three attacks by an armed pick-up; by the third time, they replied in kind, destroying the vehicle.

With the end of the "Peace and Security in Africa" summit in Paris, François Hollande announced that 1600 soldiers would be deployed "for as long as necessary" and that their mission would be to "disarm all militias and armed groups that terrorise the population"; he furthermore re-stated his intentions to have a "swift, efficient" French intervention that would bring about "the return of stability, and allow free and pluralist elections when in the fullness of time".

[34] In the night of the 6 to 7 December, the troops landed by Dixmude crossed the Central-African border, while elements deployed outside of Bangui began to reconnoitre the road axis to the North.

[35] Rafales from Ndjamena conducted air patrols and low-altitude shows of force above Bangui and Bossangoa to signal the French presence and bring about an end to infighting.

[37] According to the statement of the French Defence Ministry, soon before midnight, a section of the Sangaris Force was attacked at short range by men equipment with light arms, during a patrol in Bangui.

[38] On the 10th, General Mahamat Saleh, formerly Chief of Staff of the Séléka forces, was killed by French soldiers in the Miskine neighbourhood, as his vehicle attempted to run a blockade.

[41] In the morning of the next day, Christians demonstrated to support the French intervention and demand the departure of Michel Djotodia, of Séléka and of the Chadian and MISCA soldiers.

Meanwhile, Sangaris continued securing the surroundings of M’Poko Airport, where several thousands refugees had found shelter, to ensure sustainable air traffic.

[46] On 12 January, in the Southern neighbourhood of Bimbo, Séléka and Anti-Balaka fraternised following a French mediation operation, and concluded a cease-fire in front of a cheering crowd.

In early March, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos stated that the Muslim population in Bangui numbered only 900, while it had been estimated to between 130 000 and 145 000 before the conflict.

On 10 February, General Francisco Soriano stated The people who call themselves Anti-balaka have become the main enemies of peace in the Central African Republic.

[60][61] The Anti-balaka, split between their extremist and moderate factions, reacted in diverse ways, with some declaring themselves ready to surrender their weapons, while others went on attacking Muslim civilians.

Its aim was to assist the installation of the MISCA in the Eastern CAR, help restore the authority of the State in the region, and have peace-keeping measures accepted and implemented.

[85][86] Before the start of the operation, the French Ministry of Defence had demarched several European allies, as well as the US, to request support with air logistics, both strategic (long-range) and tactical (short-range).

On 10 April 2014, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a peacekeeping force in the CAR, called MINUSCA, to put an end to the increasing violence between Christians and Muslims.

The Algerian newspaper Liberté denounced Sangaris as a new instance of Françafrique policy, and described the operation as perceived "in Africa and elsewhere as manoeuver of France to affirm herself on the world stage".

Choosing political transition and economical development as the aim of the intervention will amount to substitute ourselves to the Central-Africans for all great decisions as long as there will be no State.

"[106] The French ambassador in the CAR, Charles Malinas, stated that the operation had had a positive outcome, that normal life was being restored and that "everything is restarting in Bangui".

[108] On 12 February, French general Dominique Trinquand, formerly chief of the military mission to the United Nations, stated on RFI: The international community must react very quickly.

[109]On 29 March, in Geneva, Volker Türk, Director of International Protection at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC), recently back from the CAR, stated in Boda that "without Sangaris, is would be a massacre.

They stated that France had played an important stabilisation role, notably in Bangui and Bouar, and had also secured the supply route between Cameroon and Nagui, but had not managed to really disarm the Seleka and the Anti-Balaka.

[111] In April 2015, a leaked UN report revealed that human rights investigators had heard claims from children as young as nine, living in internal displacement camps, that they had been sexually exploited, including by rape and sodomy, by French soldiers in exchange for food.

[112] Further claims emerged in March 2016, including allegations that a French commander had tied up four girls, undressed, in a camp and forced them to have sex with dogs.