The United States will provide airlift support to enable African forces to deploy promptly to prevent the further spread of sectarian violence in the Central African Republic, announced Pentagon Assistant Press Secretary Carl Woog on Monday. The US support comes after French Minister of Defense Yves Le Drian made a request for limited assistance to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel when the two spoke in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Dec. 8, said Woog. In response, Hagel directed US Africa Command to begin transporting forces from Burundi to the CAR, in coordination with France, said Woog. French forces, under the authority of a UN Security Council resolution, are assisting the African Union-led mission to provide humanitarian assistance in the CAR and establish an environment that supports a political transition to a democratically elected government there.
The Pentagon plans to use U.S. Air Force C-17s and C-130s to deport 5,400 people currently detained by Customs and Border Protection, officials announced Jan. 22, the first act in President Donald Trump’s sweeping promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants and increase border security.