French President Francois Hollande said Thursday he had decide to intervene "immediately" in the Central African Republic, after the United Nations authorized an intervention by African and French forces, dpa reported.
France would double its current troop deployment of 600 "within a few days, if not a few hours," Hollande said in an address from the Elysee Palace.
"This intervention will be quick. It has no vocation to last and I'm sure it will be a success," he said, pledging to regularly brief the nation on its progress.
Hollande emphasized that France would be acting "together with Africans and the support of European partners" and assured that the country has "no other objective than to save human lives."