France has ordered troops into its former colony of the Central African Republic, hours after a sectarian bloodbath left more than 120 people dead in the troubled nation's capital of Bangui.
Shortly after the UN Security Council issued a green light for the military intervention, French President Francois Hollande yesterday ordered an additional 600 troops to the African country, doubling the force it already has in and around Bangui.
"Massacres are taking place at this very moment, even in hospitals," Hollande said. "Every day, women and children are being violently abused and thousands of people are being turned into refugees."
The depiction of a chaotic, desperate situation was confirmed by AFP reporters in Bangui, who counted 54 corpses gathered in a mosque in the PK5 area of the capital.
Another 25 bodies lined surrounding streets. Many of the victims had been clubbed or hacked to death.
The violence appeared to vindicate recent warnings from France, the United States and others that the Central African Republic (CAR) was on the brink of collapse with tensions soaring between its Christian and Muslim communities.
"The bodies were brought here this morning by people from the surrounding area," a mosque official who requested anonymity told AFP. The mosque was full of distraught men and women who had come to look for missing loved ones.
The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity reported at least 50 dead and scores more injured in one hospital alone as a result of the clashes that erupted overnight.
With clinics in other parts of the city inaccessible, the death toll was almost certain to rise and one local resident, who refused to be identified, told AFP he feared another blood-soaked night.
"In certain neighbourhoods that is going to be terrible, there is going to be more killing," he said.
Earlier in the day, local men circulated outside the mosque, voicing fury over the previous night's events while brandishing machetes.
"They knew these were Muslim houses," one said. Another added: "It's a war they want."
France deployed 250 of the troops it already has in the CAR to Bangui's city centre, and transitional president Michel Djotodia declared an all-night curfew.
In New York, the UN Security Council unanimously backed a French-drafted resolution authorising the deployment of up to 3,600 African and 1,200 French troops to try and contain the violence.
The country's prime minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, had earlier pressed France to act urgently.
