Clashes as UN peacekeepers halt rebel advance on CAR capital

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic clashed with rebels who were attempting to march on the capital, a military source told AFP Sunday, adding that the offensive ended with the militants taking flight.

The fighting near Sibut, a market town some 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Bangui, erupted after Seleka rebels ignored an ultimatum to halt their advance on Bangui, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

French troops also took part in the operation against the Seleka fighters, the French army said.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

The unrest began on Saturday when "continued automatic weapons fire could be heard" around Sibut, said the military source who did not wish to be named.

By Sunday afternoon the situation was "under the control of international forces who were carrying out a mopping-up operation", he said.

Colonel Gilles Jaron, a spokesman for the French army, said at a press briefing in Paris on Sunday that France's Sangaris military force had received a "request for support" from the MINUSCA peacekeepers near Sibut as the rebels were advancing.

"We sent a Tiger helicopter, and returned fire on one of the armed groups. Since then, MINUSCA did not ask for more assistance."

MINUSCA has not confirmed the operation.

The 2013 ouster of Christian president Francois Bozize by mainly Muslim Seleka fighters sparked a conflict that claimed thousands of lives and caused nearly half a million people to flee the chronically unstable country.

Last month some Seleka members announced they intended to march from the village of Kaga Bandoro all the way to Bangui, some 200 km further south.

According to the military source, they did not respond to an ultimatum to retreat by Saturday.

Several Sibut residents reached by telephone earlier Sunday said they had heard heavy weapons fire in the area and noticed an unusually large MINUSCA presence.

One resident, Blaise Boikandjia, told AFP: "You can't speak of fighting in Sibut for now. Everything is happening outside the town and we can hear firing a bit farther away."

Another resident, Hilaire Yagaza, said some fearful locals in the town of some 25,000 had taken refuge in the bush.

Bozize's overthrow sparked the impoverished country's worst crisis since independence from France in 1960.

Late last month a new upsurge in violence left 36 dead and caused nearly 30,000 people to flee their homes.