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| Security Council Approves Bigger Force for Central African Republic | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| DAKAR, Senegal — Fighting tore through parts of the capital of the Central African Republic on Thursday, hours before the United Nations Security Council voted to authorize a larger international force to quell the chaos there. | |
| Officials and citizens said some strategic locations in the city — a military camp, the neighborhood around the airport and an opposition district — appeared to have come under sustained assault from forces opposed to the rebel coalition that seized power in the country earlier this year. | |
| The shooting began in the early hours Thursday but had tapered off by midmorning, citizens said. The streets of Bangui were deserted and no vehicles were circulating on the capital’s dilapidated roads, apart from occasional patrols by the small French military force in the city and the rebel coalition’s pickups. | The shooting began in the early hours Thursday but had tapered off by midmorning, citizens said. The streets of Bangui were deserted and no vehicles were circulating on the capital’s dilapidated roads, apart from occasional patrols by the small French military force in the city and the rebel coalition’s pickups. |
| An official with Doctors Without Borders, the French medical relief organization, said that at least 50 people had been killed in the fighting, with 100 others wounded. | |
| By midmorning, the attackers appeared to have been pushed back from the neighborhood of the National Assembly, at the edge of an area fiercely opposed to the ruling rebel coalition. | By midmorning, the attackers appeared to have been pushed back from the neighborhood of the National Assembly, at the edge of an area fiercely opposed to the ruling rebel coalition. |
| But the situation remained confused, with officials of the rebel government saying that their forces had regained control, and others saying that the antigovernment fighters had appeared to have penetrated into the capital’s outlying neighborhoods. | |
| The fighting was a sign of the heightened instability in the country since the rebels seized power in March. The Central African Republic, a landlocked country of 4.6 million in the heart of Africa, has been subjected to a repeated cycle of coups, countercoups and rebellions. | |
| But the situation has worsened since the rebel group known as Seleka, or alliance, chased out the president, François Bozizé, earlier this year and replaced him with Michel Djotodia. Seleka, a mostly Muslim grouping in a largely Christian country, has exerted little authority over its own forces, which have since subjected the population to repeated and well-documented killings, arbitrary arrests and kidnappings. | But the situation has worsened since the rebel group known as Seleka, or alliance, chased out the president, François Bozizé, earlier this year and replaced him with Michel Djotodia. Seleka, a mostly Muslim grouping in a largely Christian country, has exerted little authority over its own forces, which have since subjected the population to repeated and well-documented killings, arbitrary arrests and kidnappings. |
| Militia groups have sprung up to oppose them — Christian, for the most part — and the fighting Thursday appeared to be a calculated demonstration of force by Seleka’s opponents at a time when foreign powers were preparing to vote on a heightened intervention force. | |
| The Security Council’s unanimous approval of a French resolution to authorize the force, which had been expected, is likely to result in the deployment of thousands of African Union soldiers and hundreds of French soldiers to augment a modest troop presence already on the ground. | |
| France, the former colonial ruler, has been especially vociferous in warning of the potential for large-scale ethnic and sectarian violence as exasperation with Seleka’s chaotic rule has increased. | |
| Seleka’s opponents have “chosen this moment to say, ‘We’re here, and you’ve got to reckon with us,’ ” said Renner Onana, an official with the substantial United Nations mission in the country. | Seleka’s opponents have “chosen this moment to say, ‘We’re here, and you’ve got to reckon with us,’ ” said Renner Onana, an official with the substantial United Nations mission in the country. |
| “I think it is well calculated,” Mr. Onana said. “It is not just a coincidence.” | “I think it is well calculated,” Mr. Onana said. “It is not just a coincidence.” |
| Prosper Ndouba, a top adviser to Mr. Djotodia, the president backed by Seleka, said he was certain that Mr. Bozizé was behind the attacks Thursday. “It’s Bozizé's partisans,” Mr. Ndouba said. “They have always been in some of the neighborhoods. | Prosper Ndouba, a top adviser to Mr. Djotodia, the president backed by Seleka, said he was certain that Mr. Bozizé was behind the attacks Thursday. “It’s Bozizé's partisans,” Mr. Ndouba said. “They have always been in some of the neighborhoods. |
| “It’s calmed down now,” he added. “The situation has stabilized.” | “It’s calmed down now,” he added. “The situation has stabilized.” |
| Mr. Onana said the identities of those who struck in Bangui were unclear, which added to the menace for the government. “What’s certain is there is an armed opposition,” he said. “This is a country that has been completely given over to massacres and arrests since March.” | Mr. Onana said the identities of those who struck in Bangui were unclear, which added to the menace for the government. “What’s certain is there is an armed opposition,” he said. “This is a country that has been completely given over to massacres and arrests since March.” |