New Caledonia: Major cleanup operation and extension of curfew

The police began removing roadblocks on Friday from the route connecting southern New Caledonia to Nouméa, as the curfew was extended until July 22.

The operation, expected to last several days on a section of Provincial Road No. 1 (RP1) in the pro-independence stronghold of the Saint-Louis tribe in Mont-Dore, started peacefully, according to AFP on site.

This required a complete traffic halt on this strategic route to allow construction equipment to start removing car wrecks and other debris blocking the road for several kilometers.

In a statement released Friday, High Commissioner of the Republic Louis Le Franc announced the extension "until July 22" of the curfew "from 8 PM to 6 AM" and the "ban on the sale and transport of weapons and the sale of alcohol," to "continue security efforts."

The roadblocks, set up at the start of the pro-independence mobilization against the electoral body reform that degenerated into riots on May 13, have made commuting difficult or impossible for thousands of Caledonians from the south of the archipelago traveling to Nouméa for work or studies.

Restoring free circulation in this part of New Caledonia is a key objective for the authorities, two months after the disturbances began.

The clearing operation began without incident, except for an isolated shot fired at the gendarmes, said the head of the national gendarmerie in the archipelago, General Nicolas Mattéos, to AFP.

However, the calm in the pro-independence tribe of Saint-Louis is relative: on Thursday evening, the rectory of the Catholic mission, where a 38-year-old man was killed the previous day in an exchange of gunfire with the GIGN, was set on fire.

While tensions have significantly decreased in the territory, daily life is still marked by sporadic clashes with law enforcement, vandalism, and fires.

In Nouméa, vehicles were set on fire on Thursday night to Friday within the grounds of the psychiatric hospital, according to the establishment's management. In Houaïlou (east coast), three gendarmes were injured on Thursday morning while trying to catch a vehicle that fled after hitting them.

The police also received new material reinforcements on Thursday, including ten centaur-type armored vehicles, bringing the total number of armored vehicles on the territory to 40, including 16 centaurs. A total of 3,500 gendarmes, police officers, and soldiers are deployed in the area.