The leader of the rebel group controlling the town, the capital of Ituri region, said he was eager to work with the force, the first sent by the EU outside Europe.
Senior officials of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) rebel group met with French officers at the airport, as young UPC fighters hobnobbed jovially with some of the new arrivals.
A journalist at Bunia airport saw several dozen French troops in camouflage uniforms take up positions around the facility.
They had arrived aboard two French army Transalls and a C-130 aircraft.
More planes were due to arrive over the course of the day.
"Those who arrived are the advance party that will prepare things for the arrival of the main body of troops", said Colonel Daniel Vollot, the sector commander in Bunia for the UN military mission in DRC, known as Monuc.
Another Monuc official said four British soldiers had traveled with the French troops.
The new arrivals seemed less than happy to be greeted by dozens of waiting international journalists.
"We can't work in these conditions", complained a soldier, pointing to a group of photographers who had moved too close.
Policemen deployed by the Kinshasa government zealously pushed back the photographers.
Although Monuc has 700 troops in Bunia, the mission is not considered to be well enough armed or endowed with a mandate robust enough to protect Ituri's civilians from inter-ethnic violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks and some 50 000 lives since 1999.
A French general based in Paris, Bruno Neveux, is in charge of the overall operation in Ituri, while troops on the ground will be commanded by another French general, Jean-Paul Thonier.
The force's current mandate expires on September 1.
The EU peacekeeping operation, code-named Artemis, was expected to get up to its full strength of 1 500 men over the next few days.
Up to 900 of these troops will be from France, which is also supplying Mirage fighters and a refuelling plane.
The force is using Uganda's Entebbe international airport as a forward base.
On May 30, the United Nations Security Council gave the green light for the force, authorising its troops to shoot to kill when necessary, and on Thursday the European Union gave its own authorisation.
UPC leader Thomas Lubanga said he was looking forward to working with the force.
"We are going to cooperate with the force and we are immediately going to meet the units that have arrived to welcome them and wish them well in their work here," he said.
"If the head of the force has arrived, I am ready to meet him myself," said Lubanga, who had previously expressed fierce opposition to the deployment of French troops in the volatile Ituri region, where Bunia is the main town.
"We will discuss how best we can cooperate together to ensure the safety of the population," he said.
Since Monday, the UPC, which claims to have 15 000 men, has been withdrawing its fighters from Bunia to three cantonment sites outside the town. – Sapa.
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