INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES au NEWSLETTER SIGNUP My account Log Out May 19, 9:15 PM AEST Business News Sports Technology Entertainment NEWSLETTER My account Log Out Australia edition Business News Sports Technology Entertainment Editions Australia India International Singapore United Kingdom United States NEWSLETTER Follow Us Editions Australia India International Singapore United Kingdom United States France Says Will Quell New Caledonia Riots 'Whatever The Cost' By Charlotte MANNEVY Published 05/19/24 AT 9:15 PM AEST Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Share on Flipboard Share on Pocket Around 1,000 police and military reinforcements have arrived AFP French forces smashed through dozens of barricades in a bid to retake the main road to New Caledonia's airport and a top official said Sunday that France would reclaim all of the Pacific territory from independence militants "whatever the cost". After six nights of violence that have left six dead and hundreds injured, French government high commissioner Louis Le Franc warned in a televised address that new raids on independence strongholds would be staged. "Republican order will be re-established whatever the cost," Le Franc said, adding that if separatists "want to use their arms, they will be risking the worst.
" New Caledonia, with a population of about 270,000, has been convulsed by unrest since Monday, sparked by French plans to impose new voting rules that would give tens of thousands of .