A French soldier mans a machine-gun on a reconnaissance patrol outside the northeastern town of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo June 23, 2003. French troops form the bulk of a multi-national force sent under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians in the town from warring groups of ethnic militia. French special forces have been conducted scouting missions outside the town, where clashes between gunmen allied to rival Hema and Lendu tribes killed hundreds last month.