Editing Central African Empire (section)

===Operation Barracuda===
{{Main|Operation Barracuda}}

Operation Barracuda was initiated in 1979 after the death of several school children after a protest that was shut down with many students imprisoned in Ngaraba.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/09/24/archives/bokassa-successor-says-dictator-killed-children-in-april-massacre.html|title=Bokassa Successor Says Dictator Killed Children in April Massacre|date=1979-09-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-05|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> France severed ties with Bokassa, and began to plan his excommunication when the emperor began working with [[Muammar Gaddafi]],<ref name=":03"/> the Libyan leader. Operation Barracuda entailed French soldiers entering the country <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/04/world/jean-bedel-bokassa-75-ruled-the-central-african-republic.html|title=Jean-Bedel Bokassa, 75, Ruled The Central African Republic|last=French|first=Howard W.|date=1996-11-04|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-04|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> while [[Jean-Bédel Bokassa|Bokassa]] was on a trip to Libya and instating [[David Dacko]], who had been exiled to Paris,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=France in Centrafrique: from Bokassa and Operation Barracuda to the days of EUFOR|last=Baxter|first=Peter|date=2011|publisher=Helion|isbn=978-1-907677-37-3|oclc=751804918}}</ref> as the new leader. France cut off all humanitarian aid for media presence and then later sent French troops into [[Bangui]], the nation's capital, to install David Dacko as the new leader.<ref name=":2" /> Dacko stayed in a hotel in France, where he was exiled, awaiting the call to be transported into the nation as soon as Bokassa made himself unavailable.<ref name=":2" /> Leaders from [[Chad]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]] (then [[Zaire]]) all agreed to the idea as well as to aid the French in transport and military support for Operation Barracuda.<ref name=":2" /> This operation's success effectively ended the Central African Empire and reintroduced the Central African Republic.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}