This weekend saw more sectarian violence on the streets of Bangui, with two Muslims killed by a Christian mob.

Now the European Union is sending troops into the Central African Republic to help stabilise the country, alongside the 1,600 French soldiers and 5,000 African Union peace-keepers already there.

In the EU’s first major army operation since troops were sent to Chad six years ago, up to 1,000 soldiers from EU member states will go to the Central African Republic. The force is expected to stay for between four and six months. EU members that will not be sending soldiers include the UK and Italy.

From the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, euronews correspondent Audrey Tilve said: “It’ll be necessary to get the green light from the United Nations, plan the operation, see exactly who will do what, and get the approval of parliaments in all countries where it’s needed. All this explains why the mission isn’t expected to start before the end of February at the earliest.”