Fighting in Central African Republic kills at least 20

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC A LOCAL radio station and residents say that fighting between rival rebel groups in Central African Republic has killed at least 20 people.

Local radio staffer Jean-Pierre Ngarassouma and residents said his station and other buildings were looted, as ex-Seleka rebels killed 19 people in Ndomete and five others in KagaBandoro. They said the violence between the mostly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels and Christian anti-Balaka fighters erupted Friday in Ndomete and spread six miles (10 kilometres) to KagaBandoro’s city centre into Saturday.

A spokesman for an ex-Seleka branch that controls Kaga-Bandoro, Saad Ahmat Ali, denied responsibility yesterday.

The government called for calm, and said that it was deploying forces with the United Nations peacekeeping mission.

The UN mission warned that hostilities must cease.

Thousands have been killed and displaced in sectarian violence since March 2013.