Bangui, January 20 (RHC)-- Gunmen have killed at least 22 Muslims, including three children, who were fleeing sectarian violence in the Central African Republic (CAR). Robert Lankenau, with Save the Children, said in a statement issued over the weekend that some 50 others were injured in the attack.

Save the Children medical team worked to treat the injured at a hospital in the northwestern town of Bouar. Lankenau said the attack indicates that African and French peacekeepers are not reaching remote areas where killings go unseen. He added that the situation is “still fraught and highly dangerous.”

France invaded its former colony in December last year, after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the country.

France has deployed 1,600 troops to the CAR, but the UN-backed intervention force, which includes over 4,000 African Union peacekeepers, is struggling to restore security. Paris claims the aim of the mission is to create stability in the African country, but critics point to the region's rich natural resources which are there for the taking.