U.S. military ordered to fly Burundi troops to Central African Republic

DOHA, Qatar -- Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering the U.S. military to transport troops from Burundi into the Central African Republic to help quell the latest upsurge in violence there.

He approved the order at the request of the French defence minister.

Pentagon spokesman Carl Woog says Hagel directed the U.S. Africa Command to begin transporting forces in co-ordination with France because the U.S. believes immediate action is needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

There are more than 1,000 French troops in the Central African Republic, where Christian armed fighters launched an attack on the capital last week.

The fighters oppose the Muslim ex-rebels now in charge of the former French colony.

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  French troops patrol past two Seleka, the alliance of mostly Muslim rebel groups , vehicles set on fire by Christian mobs in Bangui, Central African Republic, Monday Dec. 9, 2013. Both Christian and Muslim mobs went on lynching sprees as French Forces deployed in the capital. At least one Seleka suspect was stoned to death by the crowds. (AP / Jerome Delay)