African peacekeepers fired into a crowd of protesters in the capital of the Central African Republic today, killing one person and injuring around 40 more, in a shooting set to escalate tensions in the strife-torn country.
The Chadian soldiers, part of a UN-mandated force, opened fire on stone-throwing protesters outside Bangui airport who accused them of complicity with rebels who have been terrorising the population, according to AFP reporters on the scene.
But the Chadian government categorically denied the report.
"No Chadian soldier fired on demonstrators," Communication Minister Hassan Sylla Bakari said in a statement to AFP.
"This report is a fabrication by certain media" who want to vilify Chadian peacekeepers, he said, accusing the media of "fanning hatred between two brother peoples (Chadian and Central African) who have always lived together peacefully."
Several hundred Christian demonstrators had massed to call for the departure of President Michel Djotodia, a former rebel who became the first Muslim leader of the majority Christian nation after a March coup that unleashed the current wave of sectarian violence.
They were also demanding the departure of the Chadian troops within the 3,700-strong African Union's MISCA force which, alongside French forces, is battling to restore order in the volatile country.
Demonstrators started throwing rocks at two 4X4 vehicles with AU troops from Chad, who responded by firing their weapons in the air and towards the crowd, shooting one person dead, according to AFP reporters.
French troops quickly intervened to evacuate the victims.
Around 40 injured people -- three in a serious condition -- were transferred to a field hospital set up by Doctors without Borders (MSF) at the airport, said the aid group's on-site coordinator Lindis Hurum.
"I came to see the demonstration and I got shot in the leg," said one of the injured, who gave his name as Ludovic.
Many in mostly Christian Bangui accuse Chad -- whose President Idriss Deby Itno has long been kingmaker in the country -- of masterminding the Seleka rebellion behind the March coup.
Djotodia has officially disbanded Seleka but some of its members went rogue, leading to months of killing, raping and pillaging -- and prompting Christians to form vigilante groups in response.
