One of the former French soldiers who participated into the Opération Turquoise said that the operation was not a humanitarian one rather it aimed at capturing the Kigali city and to help the government that was perpetrating the genocide to stronghold the power.
Guillaume Ancel said the mission was meant to capture the Kigali city which was recently captured by the RPA Inkotanyi.
“Attacking Kigali was a means by which we wanted the then government to remain in power”, he told the Radio France. He said that on 29, June, 1994, he received the orders to invade Kigali.
For him these orders were not to carry out a humanitarian aid rather the mission was to hinder the RPA army from attacking and capturing the rest of Rwanda.
He said that he was prepared to bomb all the military bases of the RPA army with a helicopter but he suddenly received orders to suspend the operation.
Guillaume Ancel said that they were told they were told that Paris has concluded with the RPF that the French soldiers forming the Operation Turquoise had to remain in their positions and keep the security of the civilians.
Lately, the Opération Turquoise was defeated by the APR army(current RDF) in the Weastern part of Rwanda.
Soldiers of the Operation Turquoise helped the genocide perpetrators to flee to the former Zaire(current DRC).
For this soldier, Guillaume Ancel, France systematically continued to support the Abatabazi regime that perpetrated the genocide through providing them with heavy weaponry especially in July, 1994.
France is responsible for many wars that took numerous lives of innocent people around the world, he regrets.
UM– USEKE.RW
