French peacekeepers killed up to seven people as they tried to control clashes between armed groups in the Central African town of Bambari that have left at least 25 dead, officials said today.
Bambari has become a stronghold for the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels that seized control of the country last year and were forced out of power in January.
But factions of the Seleka have clashed with each other as well as the mostly Christian anti-balaka militia and armed Fula tribesmen in recent months.
A police source in Bambari said "violent clashes broke out on Wednesday and carried on into Thursday".
"The latest toll in Bambari is more than 25 dead and several dozen wounded," the source added.
French soldiers killed "five to seven" armed individuals as they tried to bring the violence under control, a spokesman at the army headquarters in Paris added.
Colonel Gilles Jaron said French and African peacekeepers came under attack from an armed group using rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
"We retaliated. We think we killed five to seven individuals," he said.
He said the armed group retreated but pillaged the offices of several non-governmental groups, including the Red Cross. He added that calm had been restored by Thursday.
The region remains highly restive due to splits within the Seleka "between a branch that is more and more radicalised and another which is more open to dialogue to exit the crisis," said Jaron.
The presence of other armed groups have further complicated the situation.
Fierce clashes took place in Bambari in June and July, leaving more than 100 dead and at least 200 injured, mostly civilians. Tens of thousands fled.
At the end of August, 11 people died when anti-balaka fighters attacked a Fula camp in nearby Ngakobo, which also saw its mayor assassinated last week.
