“Operation Turquoise” launches with approximately 3,000 French and African troops deployed to provide a humanitarian safe zone in southwest Rwanda. French troops cross into Rwanda and surround refugee camps in Cyangugu, where Tutsi have been living under the threat of the militias. The Foreign Minister of the Interim Government, Jerome Bicamumpaka, welcomes the French intervention force calling it a mission to save the Rwandan population. Hundreds of militias wielding machetes and clubs gave the French troops a tumultuous welcome as they crossed the border from Zaire into Rwanda.
