21 killed in attacks in vehicle

Three hospitals have reported at least 36 dead and 80 wounded. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

These rebels are mostly Muslims from the north of the country, where people have long complained of being neglected by various Christian-dominated governments that have ruled the former French colony since independence in 1960.

On Sunday, Doctors without Borders (MSF) said in a statement that their teams working in the city’s Mpoko camp, Castor hospital and Hopital General had been pressed to activate mass-casualty plans to cope with an influx of the injured.

“The attacks were repulsed, causing some fatalities amid the assailants”, added the source, without providing further details.

The trouble in the already restive impoverished nation led Prime Minister Mahamat Kamoun to slap a curfew on the city.

At least five people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in the capital of Central African Republic on Saturday as Muslims attacked a mainly Christian neighbourhood, medical officials and witnesses have said.

After the death of the driver, whose throat was allegedly slit, clashes and looting spread to nearby districts.

It remains the last bastion for Muslims who were hounded from other districts by Christian Seleka fighters.

Central African Republic erupted into widespread sectarian violence after the Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew the president in 2013 and the Christian anti-Balaka militiamen formed to combat them.

The violence comes almost a month after the release of 163 children as part of an agreement by various armed groups in the country to no longer use child soldiers.

“These armed groups don’t subscribe to a logic of disarmament and want to split the country”, he said. Pope Francis is also due to visit in late November as part of his trip to Africa.