{{French forces returned fire when they came under attack in Bangui, a MISCA official said Friday, after residents in the Central African Republic’s capital accused the French soldiers of opening fire on civilians, killing at least five.}}<\/p>\n
The soldiers were on patrol in the mainly Muslim PK5 district when they were shot at by unidentified gunmen late Thursday, triggering a riposte, an official in the MISCA (African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic) peacekeeping force said.<\/p>\n
The gunfight continued for more than three hours. Residents in neighbouring districts said they heard heavy arms fire for several hours as a helicopter flew overhead.<\/p>\n
“The exact toll of the shooting is unknown,” the MISCA official added.<\/p>\n
A French military statement on Friday also said the soldiers had come under attack and were defending themselves.<\/p>\n
Ousmane Abakar, a resident of the PK5 neighbourhood, said he saw five people killed
\nand 10 injured after the altercation, which lasted until Friday morning.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Muslim community in PK5, Abakar Moustapha, also said five residents were killed and several other people were wounded.<\/p>\n
A source close to the French forces confirmed the incident by telephone but did not give a toll.<\/p>\n
“French soldiers were searching a house suspected to be an arms cache in the Cameroonian district [of the PK5] when they were attacked by angry youths because the Senegalese owner of the house is not in Bangui,” he said.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Central African Red Cross said three people with gunshot wounds were taken to a PK5 hospital overnight Thursday.<\/p>\n
The country slipped into chaos last year after the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels deposed president Fran\u00e7ois Boziz\u00e9 in a March coup.<\/p>\n
The Seleka officially disbanded after seizing power, but some of its former members launched a campaign of killing, raping and looting, prompting communities in the Christian-majority nation to form vigilante “anti-balaka” militias, some of which are now seeking revenge on the country’s Muslim minority.<\/p>\n
Both the UN and France have warned that the crisis in the impoverished country risks degenerating into genocide and ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n
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