Paris, February 10 (RHC)-- French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says Paris wants to end its military operation in the Central African Republic (CAR) later this year after the UN issued a statement detailing the French troops' sexual abuse of children in the African country.

This came after the UN said in a recent statement that peacekeepers from Georgia, France and another unnamed European country sexually abused and raped children, mostly in 2014 in the CAR.

The UN staff said they interviewed a girl and a boy who were aged 7 and 9 respectively when they were allegedly abused in 2014 by French "Operation Sangari" troops. The girl said she had been abused by French soldiers "in exchange for a bottle of water and a sachet of cookies."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein described the acts of abuse as “extremely serious” and called for an urgent investigation into the cases.