A French soldier on a reconnaissance patrol stands next to a child soldier outside Bunia in the northeast of 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 conducted scouting missions outside the town, where clashes between gunmen allied to rival Hema and Lendu tribes killed hundreds last month.]