Bangui, February 4 (RHC)- Seventy people have been killed in the latest round of clashes in the Central African Republic. Police said Monday that the fatal clashes took place in the central city of Boda, located some 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the capital, Bangui. Local reports said Christian armed men attacked Muslims in the town and torched some thirty houses.

The latest deadly violence came as some 7,000 French and African forces are deployed in the Central African Republic, but the forces have so far failed to restore security in the country. The forces have also been accused of failing to prevent sectarian attacks in the country.

The inter-communal violence began last December after Christian militias attacked the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which toppled the previous government in March 2013. France has dispatched some 1,600 troops to its former colony after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and Paris the go-ahead to send troops to the country.

The sectarian violence reportedly killed over 1,000 people in January, and forced about one million people to flee homes.