Hundreds of soldiers started arriving in CAR from neighboring countries, hours after Paris was given a U.N. green light for the mission to restore order. French troops patrolled the main roads and warplanes flew low over town.
But residents and rights groups reported waves of killings in neighborhoods despite major gunbattles easing off. The Red Cross said it had collected 281 bodies from two days of violence in Bangui, but many more had been killed.