Paris: President Francois Hollande on Thursday vowed to "show no mercy" if French peacekeepers in Central African Republic were found guilty of raping hungry children in exchange for food.
According to a French judicial source, several children -- the youngest just nine -- allege that 14 French soldiers dispatched to the impoverished nation to restore order after a 2013 coup were involved in sexually abusing some of them in exchange for food.
Of those soldiers, "very few" have actually been identified, and those that have have still not been questioned, added the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
"If some soldiers have behaved badly, I will show no mercy," Hollande told reporters.
The defence ministry denied attempting to cover up a potentially devastating scandal following revelations it had been made aware of the allegations in July last year when it received a leaked report compiled by UN officials stationed in the chaotic African country.
The abuse reportedly took place at a centre for displaced people near the airport of the Central African capital Bangui between December 2013 -- when the French operation began -- and June 2014.
The defence ministry said it immediately launched a probe into the case, sending police investigators to the former French colony on August 1 after receiving the news, but the damning allegations nevertheless only emerged this week when The Guardian newspaper broke the story.
"There is no desire to hide anything," Pierre Bayle, a defence ministry spokesman, told reporters on Thursday.
"We are not hiding the facts, we are trying to verify the facts," he added, while urging "great caution" over accusations that have yet to be proven.
