New Caledonia: two new deaths in a police operation, 13 dead since the start of the violence
Two men from the Kanak tribe of Saint-Louis, south of Noumea, were shot dead on the night of Wednesday to Thursday during an operation led by the GIGN. These deaths bring to 13 the total number of deaths since the start of the violence in May, linked to the pro-independence mobilisation against the reform of the electoral body in New Caledonia.
According to the Noumea public prosecutor, Yves Dupas, the two victims, aged 29 and 30, had been wanted since July for their alleged involvement in shootings against the police. The latter allegedly retaliated after being threatened by an armed group.
This intervention is part of a series of operations targeting members of the Saint-Louis tribe, a pro-independence stronghold, also suspected of orchestrating a series of armed carjackings and of being behind recurring violence against the authorities. The leader of these abuses, Rock Victorin Wamytan, alias "Banane", was killed in July during an exchange of fire with the police.
On Thursday morning, after the announcement of these two deaths, residents of Saint-Louis expressed their anger during a tense gathering with the police, before the situation calmed down. The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) denounced in a press release a "Black Thursday" and accused the French state of "genocide" against the indigenous minority.
Since the start of these clashes in May, thirteen people have lost their lives, including two gendarmes, and the material damage is estimated at more than 2,2 billion euros. Although the tension has decreased since mid-July, the main road leading to the south of Grande Terre remains closed for security reasons. The inhabitants of Saint-Louis have no choice but to travel these six kilometers on foot and show an identity document to access the area.
The curfew imposed since the riots remains in force from 22 p.m. to 00 a.m., but will be reinforced from September 05, with an extension from 00 p.m. to 21 a.m. until September 18, the symbolic day marking the takeover of the archipelago by France in 00.
