Fri Sep 20 06:41:00 UTC 2024: ## Two Killed in French Police Operation Amid New Caledonia Unrest
**Noumea, New Caledonia** – Two men have been killed by French police in the overseas territory of New Caledonia during a police operation targeting individuals suspected of involvement in recent unrest. The incident, which occurred on Thursday in Saint Louis, brings the death toll from the ongoing violence to 13.
The violence, which erupted in May, was sparked by proposed voting reforms in Paris that the indigenous Kanak people fear will marginalize them and weaken their chances of achieving independence from France. The reforms would grant voting rights to thousands of non-Indigenous long-term residents in the territory, which has a population of 270,000.
The two men killed on Thursday were allegedly part of a group of armed individuals who threatened police officers. The officers fired two shots, one hitting a 30-year-old man in the abdomen and the other striking a 29-year-old man in the chest.
Despite French President Emmanuel Macron’s suspension of the controversial reforms in June, unrest continues to persist. In response, French authorities in New Caledonia imposed an extended curfew last week, banning gatherings and travel across the archipelago from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., to quell potential protests marking the anniversary of France’s takeover of the territory in 1853.
The ongoing unrest has resulted in hundreds of injuries and an estimated €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) in damage. Thousands of French troops and police have been deployed to the territory to contain the violence.
First Piper 