Toll from Central Africa Fighting Nears 100

Fighting this week between supporters of the Central African Republic's ex-president and the man who ousted him has killed almost 100 people, officials said Wednesday as an aid group warned of "atrocities" against civilians.

The two days of fighting erupted Sunday in the home region of former president Francois Bozize, who ruled the troubled nation for 10 years until the Seleka rebel coalition overthrew him on March 24 and installed its leader, Michel Djotodia, as president.

Djotodia's office said Wednesday the fighting had killed nearly 100 people, up from an earlier toll of 60.

Around 50 people were also wounded, said presidential spokesman Guy-Simplice Kodegue.

The clashes were part of a new wave of violence over the past month in and around the western villages of Bossangoa and Bouca, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of the capital, Bangui, said aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

It said fighters from both sides had killed an undetermined number of civilians, carried out summary executions and burnt down people's houses during fighting Monday in Bouca.

"MSF is deeply concerned by the targeting of the civilian population and the atrocities committed by both parties in Bouca," it said.

"This new wave of violence... is causing even more suffering for civilians already coping with months of conflict and repeatedly being forced from their homes."

The group said it had treated 26 people for machete and gunshot wounds, including eight women and six children, after Bozize supporters attacked the village.

Djotodia, who was officially sworn in on August 18, has pledged to lead an 18-month transition paving the way to elections.

He is the first Muslim president of the predominantly Christian country, and his office has accused Bozize's supporters of attacking Muslims in the new wave of violence.

MSF said it was "extremely worried about the consequences of the use of inflammatory sectarian rhetoric which began during the Seleka rebellion in March, that could fuel further violence".

The latest fighting has worsened the country's humanitarian and security situation, already chaotic since the rebellion by Seleka, whose fighters are accused of looting and violence against civilians.

In a key test of the new regime's willingness to deal with rebel abuses, 16 Seleka fighters were sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for looting, stealing, destroying property and disturbing the public order in the capital.

The Bangui court also fined them 200,000 CFA francs (300 euros, $400) each.

The trial, the first to target Seleka members, was for charges stemming from an August 20 operation to disarm Bozize loyalists in the capital's northern Boy-Rabe neighborhood, a stronghold of the ousted president.

At least 11 people were killed and around 35 wounded in the operation, during which Seleka fighters were accused of looting and setting fire to people's houses.

The 16 defendants were arrested by fellow rebel fighters.

Djotodia has forbidden former Seleka fighters from participating in any security operations in Bangui.

An African Union force, the International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA), is providing support to the army in its attempts to rein in rogue rebels.

The new government says Seleka has around 25,000 fighters, including 20,000 recruited "in the final hour" as the rebels moved to seize the capital.

A large number of those fighters answer only to their direct leaders, who have carved out personal fiefdoms in the wake of the rebellion.