PARIS: France said Friday it had replaced its ambassador in the Central African Republic, as it prepares to send more troops to help restore order in the strife-torn country.

“We have proposed the naming of a new ambassador to the Central African authorities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal told journalists.

It was unclear why the former ambassador, Serge Mucetti, was being replaced after less than two years in the country.

But France is gearing up for a military operation in CAR and its troops began to arrive on Thursday, with soldiers and equipment airlifted into the capital Bangui.

French officials say they’re laying the groundwork for a bolstered military force in CAR, adding capacity to the country’s single runway airport and sending a warship carrying 350 troops, combat vehicles and logistics equipment in neighboring Cameroon.

Col. Gilles Jaron, the military spokesman, said Friday the warship Dixmude has docked in Douala, Cameroon.

French military specialists with construction equipment will also expand the capacity of the airport at Bangui, Central African Republic. France already has about 450 troops in Central African Republic — primarily to protect the airport in a country that has descended into near-lawlessness after rebel groups overthrew the president in March.

The French government has promised a force of about 1,000 to bolster African Union troops. Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday had announced plans to deploy 1,000 soldiers to help halt mounting violence in the country, where clashes have raised international fears of sectarian massacres.

Paris on Monday presented the UN Security Council with a draft resolution aimed at reinforcing a regional African military mission in CAR, with the goal of turning it into a UN peacekeeping force.

French troops will be deploying in support of the about 2,500 African troops already on the ground.

The CAR, a deeply poor landlocked nation prone to coups, insurgencies, banditry and mutinies, plunged into chaos after a rebel coalition known as the Seleka (Alliance) ousted president Francois Bozize on March 24.