Bangui – At least 17 people have been killed, following a clash between two rebel groups in Bria, a town in the eastern Central African Republic, the United Nations said on Thursday.
The UN mission in CAR, MINUSCA UN said violence broke out on Wednesday when mainly Christian anti-Balaka militants clashed and fighters from the Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic (FPRC) clashed.
About 20 others were injured during the fight, according to MINUSCA UN Communications Director, Herve Verhoosel.
At least 15,000 residents had fled the town by Thursday, after the rebels burnt down homes and pillaged stores, Arsene Kongbo, a parliamentarian from Bria, also said.
Others hid in the local church or had fled to a nearby refugee camp, Kongbo further said.
MINUSCA said it sent reinforcements to Bria, especially, to guard the hospital where the injured had been admitted.
The attack comes only a few days after anti-Balaka fighters killed 115 people in the south-eastern city of Bangassou.
The diamond-rich but poverty-stricken nation has been in crisis since late 2012 when violence broke out between Muslim and Christian rebel groups.