The role of Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic has once again come under the spotlight as allegations of war crimes emerge in a classified UN report obtained by an American media outlet.
The parliamentary election included run-off votes in 49 electoral districts and first round voting in 69 districts where violence stopped the vote from taking place in December.
A UN spokesman said the key cause of the deteriorating situation is the very high level of insecurity along the road link to Cameroon where over 1,600 trucks, with 500 carrying humanitarian supplies, remain blocked at the border since mid-December.
Tensions have escalated dramatically in the country since December's controversial presidential polls, with groups opposed to President Faustin Archange Touadera's re-election.
The country’s Constitutional Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by 13 of the 16 other candidates who argued the results were an outcome of “massive fraud."
The assaults come before a presidential vote on Sunday that will determine whether incumbent President Touadera will stay in power.
President Touadera, the UN and the EU all fiercely insist the Sunday vote will take place despite threats of a coup.
UN says Central African Republic's fourth-largest town Bambari "is under control" after armed groups were pushed back into the bush.
Rwanda’s defence ministry says the country deployed troops to Central African Republic where its soldiers in the UN peacekeeping force have been targeted by rebels.
The fighting began after traders in a mainly Muslim district called PK5 took up arms to oppose taxes levied by militia groups, an imam at a local mosque said.
Commanders of Muslim Seleka and the largely Christian anti-balaka militias used rape and sexual slavery as a war tactic, rights group Human Rights Watch says in a new report.
The violence took place in Bria, 450 km from the capital Bangui, between a majority Muslim rebel group and a predominantly Christian militia, witnesses say.
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