Nine more bodies found in C.African Republic

Red Cross said Tuesday it had collected nine more bodies in Bangui, bringing to 1,240 the number of confirmed deaths from the violence in the Central African capital since December.

Among the corpses collected by Red Cross staff were two Chadian soldiers from the African Union peacekeeping force MISCA and two civilians who were killed on Sunday in clashes with militiamen on Sunday.

The bodies of the other five were retrieved from several Bangui neighbourhoods, a Red Cross official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The exact time and circumstances of their death was not clear but they all had bullet or machete wounds.

The Central African Red Cross had found another six bodies in Bangui between Thursday and Saturday last week.

The Red Cross official said his staff had now collected a total of 1,240 bodies from the streets of Bangui since December 5, when French troops deployed in a bid to quell flaring sectarian unrest.

He said the real death toll for Bangui was probably much higher as the bodies of many people killed in the Muslim-Christian clashes are often retrieved and buried immediately by relatives.

The Red Cross tally does not include deaths from the fighting in other cities and rural areas, where aid groups and reporters have had little access.

"Things are not improving in Bangui. Nine bodies in a day, that's a lot," the Red Cross official said.

France has been defending its record in the Central African Republic, citing improvements in Bangui security and denying claims of ethnic cleansing.

France's parliament was expected Tuesday to approve a mandate extension for Operation Sangaris, the military mission Paris launched nearly three months ago in its former colony.

France has 2,000 troops on the ground. They are coordinating their efforts with MISCA's 6,000-strong contingent and are due to be reinforced by up to 1,000 European forces.

The impoverished country descended into chaos after a coup by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels last March, triggering deadly clashes between the Christian majority and Muslim minority that have displaced hundreds of thousands.