BANGUI, Dec. 10 -- French President Francois Hollande flew into Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic, after attending a memorial service for South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Holland made the trip to salute to two French soldiers who were killed on Monday night in an operation to disarm armed men in Bangui.

France has deployed 1,600 soldiers to its former colony to restore order in collaboration with a 2,500-strong African mission.

The city was submerged in bloodbath last week, with Red Cross resources reporting hundreds of deaths in clashes between Seleka fighters and supporters of former president Francois Bozize.

The escalation of fighting between Muslim-dominated Seleka and pro-Bozize Christians has sparked concerns about another genocide after the 1994 Rwanda massacre.

France sent in troops immediately after authorized by the UN Security Council. French officials estimate their intervention, the second since January in Mali, to last six months.