Bangui, February 10 (RHC)-- At least ten people have been killed in the unrelenting violence and looting in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), according to reports from Africa.

Fighting erupted late on Saturday between the Christians and Muslims to the west of the capital, where several houses belonging to Muslim families were torched, local witnesses and humanitarian groups said on Sunday.  Two Muslim civilians were also lynched in the western part of Bangui. 

According to the witnesses at the scene, an African peacekeeper killed an assailant from anti-Balaka Christian militia while he was about to burn the body of the lynched Muslim. 

The country plunged into deadly clashes when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks on the mostly Muslim Seleka people last December.  The violence has continued unabated even after Djotodia stepped down and the parliament appointed Catherine Samba Panza as interim president.

Thousands of Muslims have fled Bangui during the past several months to escape killing, looting and harassment by anti-balaka Christian militia.  According to the United Nations refugee agency, around 9,000 people have fled the country to eastern Cameroon in the past 10 days alone.

France invaded the Central African Republic -- its former colony -- in December las year, after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and Paris the go-ahead to send troops to the country.