French President Francois Hollande on Friday called on the United Nations to "play a still bigger role" in the strife-ridden Central African Republic as French troops in Bangui sought to clamp down after days of violence.

Heavy patrols of armored vehicles and French soldiers could be seen in the capital, where more than 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in three weeks of sectarian violence.

French troops were out in force on the streets of the Central African Republic's capital Friday as they sought to clamp down after days of violence.

Heavy patrols of armored vehicles and French soldiers could be seen in Bangui, where more than 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in three weeks of unrest.

Some 40 bodies have been recovered in the Central African Republic's capital of Bangui in just one day, following clashes there, the International Committee of the Red Cross told Agence France Presse in Geneva on Thursday.

"Around 40 bodies have been recovered for the moment, and first aid has been given to around 60 people wounded," ICRC spokesman David Pierre Marquet said.

French troops were out in force in the Central African Republic's capital Thursday after clashes that killed at least a dozen civilians, according to an official, and five Chadian peacekeepers.

Chaos gripped Bangui after heavy arms fire on Wednesday, which sent thousands of panicking residents fleeing for shelter at the airport, where French and African peacekeepers are based.

The top Catholic and Muslim clerics of the Central African Republic Thursday asked the U.N. to immediately deploy peacekeepers to halt a spiral of violence that has pitted Muslims against Christians.

In an opinion column in France's Le Monde newspaper, the Archbishop of Bangui, Dieudonne Nzapalainga, and Imam Omar Kobine Layama, said French and African peacekeepers needed help to contain the violence.

Five peacekeepers from Chad have been killed in clashes in the Central African Republic capital, the force's spokesman told Agence France Presse on Thursday.

The circumstances of the deaths in Bangui on Wednesday were unclear, Eloi Yao said.

Around a dozen French tanks deployed Wednesday at Bangui's airport as intense gunfire in adjoining neighborhoods sowed panic among residents.

The tanks took positions at the entrance to the airport, where French and African peacekeepers are based, after automatic weapons fire and explosions shook several parts of the city.

Chadian troops in a Central African Republic peacekeeping force will be redeployed from the capital Bangui, a force spokesman said Wednesday amid charges they were siding with a former rebel group.

The announcement came as exchanges of gunfire erupted Wednesday in several parts of Bangui, including near the airport, residents and witnesses said without giving details about who was involved.

Three ex-rebels shot dead by French troops in the capital of the Central African Republic on Sunday were members of the presidential guard and were "killed in cold blood," the CAR presidency said.

"They were killed in cold blood by members of Sangaris," presidential spokesman Guy Simplice Kodegue said on Monday, referring to the French force sent this month to disarm ex-rebels sowing chaos in the country.

African Union troops early on Monday fired on demonstrators protesting against the president of the strife-torn Central African Republic, killing at least one person, according to Agence France Presse reporters on the scene.

Several hundred Christian demonstrators crowded at the entrance to the airport in Bangui, calling for the departure of President Michel Djotodia, who became the first Muslim leader of the majority Christian nation after a March coup that unleashed waves of violence in the country.