24 June, 2017
Some 100 people were reportedly killed in intense fighting that broke out Tuesday in the Central African Republic (CAR), local media and officials said Wednesday.
Initial reports put the death toll at 40, but residents later told news agency AFP around 100 people had been killed and dozens injured.
Although the unrest has long pitted Christian anti-Balaka militias against mainly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels, there have been growing splits within the various armed groups that have turned deadly.
The five-page peace accord was brokered by the Roman Catholic Sant' Egidio peace group in Rome and signed by Foreign Minister Charles Armel Doubane.
Anti-balaka militiamen are seen on the outskirts of the capital of the Central African Republic Bangui, January 15, 2014.
The peace deal signed Monday in Rome among almost all of the country's armed groups had called for an immediate cease-fire.
"The priority now is a cease-fire", said Vlad Monteiro, a spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping mission.
At dawn on Tuesday, clashes erupted in Bria that left dead bodies scattered on the streets and dozens rushed to the hospital for treatment of their gunshot wounds.
The office of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who was elected a year ago, applauded Monday's deal, calling it "an historic accord". Some of the former Seleka groups have fought hard to control territory.
- Nobel for failed peace?
"If there was a Nobel prize for hopeless peace agreements, Central Africa would definitely win", said Djamil Babanani, spokesman for the FPRC.
The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) peacekeeping force has yet to issue a statement on the latest clashes.
Central African Republic has faced deadly interreligious and intercommunal fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the capital, Bangui. "There are also fires and looting of houses taking place", said one aid worker present in the town, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.
One of the world's poorest nations, vehicle has been struggling to recover from a 2013 civil war that started when President Francois Bozize was overthrown by a coalition of Muslim-majority rebel groups called the Seleka.
