Dozens of barricades dismantled along a key road linking the airport to the capital, Noumea, French officials say.
French forces trying to curb unrest in the Pacific island territory of New Caledonia have cleared dozens of barricades that had been blocking the main road linking the airport to the capital, Noumea, a senior official said.
About 60 barricades that protesters had erected along the 60-kilometer (37-mile) highway have been dismantled, but the highway is not yet open because debris needs to be cleared, which will take several days, according to Louis Le Franc. high commissioner of the territory. he said Sunday.
In a televised speech, Le Franc also pledged to restore order in New Caledonia after at least six people were killed and hundreds more injured in protests that broke out last Monday over a controversial constitutional amendment.
The indigenous Kanak people, who make up about 40 percent of the population in the French territory, have criticized new rules that will change who can participate in elections, which local leaders fear will dilute the Kanak vote.
“The republican order will be restored no matter what the cost,” Le Franc said on Sunday, adding that if the separatists “want to use weapons, they will risk the worst.”
The French territory off northeastern Australia has long been torn by independence tensions, but this is the worst violence seen in decades.
France deployed 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 roadblock in Kaala-Gomen. Police did not identify the groups.
About 600 heavily armed police and paramilitaries took part in the operation on Sunday to retake the main highway linking the capital to the airport, authorities said.
Forces with armored vehicles and construction equipment destroyed 76 barricades, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a social media post.
The minister stated that more than 200 arrests had been made and added that “there are still many obstacles to eliminate to impose the republican order.”
Dominique Fochi, secretary general of the main independence movement in the territory, urged calm but said the French government must suspend the constitutional change.
“We need firm actions to calm the situation, the government must stop adding fuel to the fire,” Fochi told Reuters news agency.
The presidents of four other French overseas territories (La Réunion in the Indian Ocean, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean and French Guiana in South America) called for the withdrawal of electoral reform in an open letter on Sunday.
“Only a political response can stop the increase in violence and prevent civil war,” they warned, saying that they “call on the government to withdraw the constitutional reform project aimed at changing the electoral roll… as a precursor to peaceful dialogue.” .
French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a meeting of the national security and defense council on Monday night to discuss the situation in the territory, the Elysee Palace said.
