Ten people were killed and five others injured Friday in religious clashes in the Central African Republic, police said.

A local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the clashes in the central region of Bambari broke out following the death of a young Muslim who was "beaten by armed individuals identified as (Christian) anti-balaka militants."

The United Nations on Thursday slapped sanctions on a diamond firm from the Central African Republic and three militia leaders for undermining security in the troubled country.

A U.N. sanctions committee imposed an assets freeze on the Badica/Kardiam firm for providing support to armed groups in the Central African Republic through illegal trading in diamonds and gold. 

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Wednesday he had fired the mission chief in the Central African Republic, saying "enough is enough" after a string of allegations of child sex abuse by peacekeepers.

Senegalese diplomat Babacar Gaye "tendered his resignation at my request," Ban told reporters at the global body's headquarters in New York.

The United Nations said Sunday it is investigating a shooting rampage that left five Rwandan peacekeepers dead in the Central African Republic, in what Kigali said appeared to be a terrorist act.

The U.N. mission here, known by its French acronym MINUSCA, issued a statement describing the shooting Saturday at the Rwandan contingent's base in the capital Bangui as an "unprecedented incident since the start of the (CAR) mission in 2014."

A U.N. peacekeeping soldier was killed and eight other people injured in an attack by gunmen in the Central African Republic's capital Bangui, a military source said Sunday.

"The United Nations launched an operation by sending out a patrol," after the Bangui prosecutor's office issued an arrest warrant for a former leader of the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance, which seized power in 2013 before being forced to step aside last year, a U.N. MINUSCA force officer said.

A U.N. peacekeeping contingent serving in the Central African Republic is suspected of sexually abusing street children in Bangui, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday.

The U.N. mission in Bangui has notified the troop-contributing country of the allegations and has opened an investigation, said Stephane Dujarric.

The Central African Republic's interim government on Friday announced a new calendar for delayed elections, with the first round of presidential and legislative votes to be held on October 18.

It is hoped that, by holding the votes, the country can restore political normalcy and put behind it the brutal conflict which broke out after a 2013 coup which pitted mainly Muslim rebels against Christian vigilantes.

A high-level panel urged a major overhaul of U.N. peacekeeping operations Tuesday that would make political solutions the paramount goal, speed up deployment of peacekeepers, and require the naming and shaming of countries whose troops commit acts of sexual abuse.

The panel delivered its report to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon amid a growing controversy over allegations of child sexual abuse by French soldiers in Central African Republic. Confidential documents show the U.N.'s top human rights officials did not follow up for more than six months after their staff discovered the alleged exploitation.

U.N. peacekeepers routinely trade sex for money, jewelry, cellphones and other items in countries where they are deployed in clear violation of U.N. rules, according to a draft U.N. report.

A third of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. personnel involve a minor under 18, according to the report by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) obtained by AFP on Thursday.

The U.N. human rights chief said Friday that he was "deeply concerned" about inaction over claims that 11 people were killed by Congolese peacekeepers in the Central African Republic 15 months ago.

The statement from Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein follows shocking reports of alleged child sex abuse by French soldiers in the country and a similar incident reportedly involving a Moroccan soldier.