United Nations, October 20 (RHC)-- The UN Security Council has threatened to impose a fresh round of sanctions to contain a recent wave of violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) that has claimed the lives of over 60 people.

The 15-member Council on Tuesday said in a unanimously adopted statement that it was ready to impose the sanctions to punish those responsible for the surge of violence in the African country.

The Council “reiterates its intention to further expand” the sanctions list by “adding those responsible for the recent outbreak of violence,” the statement added.  

Diplomatic sources say France, one of the five permanent members of the Council, has been drawing a new list of individuals to be blacklisted following the wave of violence in late September.

The Security Council has already imposed two rounds of sanctions targeting individuals accountable for violence in CAR.  September’s violent clashes in the capital, Bangui, have left at least 61 people dead and 300 others injured.

To quell the violence, which was the worst this year in the capital, soldiers from the peacekeeping forces in CAR took action to disperse the crowds.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, along with French troops, has been deployed to the country to restore security.