Bangui: Heavy gunfire erupted in the capital of the Central African Republic on Thursday and at least 16 people were killed and dozens of civilians wounded.
The United Nations planned to authorize within hours an intervention force into the near anarchic and impoverished nation.
Thursday's fighting was between the mostly Muslim fighters who control the impoverished nation and Christians who support its ousted president.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has warned that the country is on “the verge of genocide.”
In New York, the United Nations Security Council is set to authorize on Thursday troops from African nations and former colonial power France to deploy here.
An attack earlier this week, blamed on Christian fighters, killed nearly a dozen women and children in a remote community.
Fabius said on Thursday that military intervention would unfold swiftly after the U.N. vote, telling BFM-TV that the French deployment would total around 1,200, with 600 troops already in place.
“We have to end this humanitarian catastrophe and restore security,” Fabius said.
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