Central African Republic: 33 people killed in fighting

Central African Republic: 33 people killed in fighting

Monday's fighting near the country's northern border with Chad killed 20 rebels, 11 government troops and two peacekeepers from a central African regional block, U.N. spokeswoman Laba Toure told The Associated Press.

Toure was citing figures from the 350-soldier peacekeeping unit sent to the country by the six-nation Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa during a previous bout of unrest, the AP reports.

The government on Tuesday blamed Chadian rebels seeking to topple the regime of President Idriss Deby there for launching an attack that sparked the fighting, but gave no details on casualties, the AP reports.