The U.N. Security Council on Monday condemned the killing of South African troops in the rebel takeover in Central African Republic and said it was ready to take "further measures."

The 15-nation council joined calls by U.N. leader Ban Ki-Moon for action to be taken against groups responsible for killings and human rights abuses in the huge African nation whose president fled on Sunday.

The U.N. Security Council will hold urgent talks Monday after a bloody coup in Central Africa sent ousted leader Francois Bozize fleeing across the border, and left 13 South African soldiers dead.

Diplomats in New York said the 15-nation council would meet to discuss the rapidfire assault in which rebels seized the capital Bangui on Sunday after the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal with Bozize's regime.

The African Union suspended the Central African Republic on Monday after rebels seized power in a rapid weekend assault on the capital, sending President Francois Bozize fleeing and triggering international appeals for calm.

Rebel leader Michel Djotodia planned to declare himself president Monday after his Seleka coalition took control of Bangui in the wake of the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal with Bozize's regime.

French President Francois Hollande has called on all parties in the Central African Republic "to remain calm and hold talks on a national unity government", after rebels seized control of the capital Bangui, his office said on Sunday.

Hollande noted the departure of President Francois Bozize, called on all parties to form a government in accordance with a peace deal reached in January, and asked "the armed groups to respect the population".

Rebels in the Central African Republic fighting to topple President Francois Bozize seized control of the capital Bangui on Sunday, with the whereabouts of their archfoe unknown.

Fighters in the Seleka rebel coalition launched an assault on the riverside capital after the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal in the notoriously unstable former French colony -- ignoring a call for talks to avoid a "bloodbath".

Rebel forces in the Central African Republic said Saturday that they had entered the capital Bangui and called on the army not to fight them and for the country's president to leave.

The claim by rebel spokesman Eric Massi came after a regional stabilization force commander said explosions and gunfire were heard on the outskirts of the city.

Rebels in Central Africa on Friday were advancing on the capital Bangui after forcing their way through a key checkpoint manned by international forces, a military source told Agence France Presse.

The rebels from the Seleka coalition had shot their way through the Damara checkpoint, some 75 kilometers (47 miles) north of the capital, around 11:00 GMT, said a source with the Multinational Force of Central Africa (FOMAC) which was manning the roadblock.

Central African rebels said Wednesday they would resume fighting after a deadline given to the government to meet their demands under a peace deal expired.

"The ultimatum is over. We will return to arms," Colonel Djouma Narkoyo, one of the rebel military chiefs, told Agence France Presse. He said the Seleka rebel coalition was working on a new strategy.

An armed faction of the Seleka rebel coalition in the Central African Republic has attacked the northern town of Sido, a military source said Friday, in an apparent breach of a recent peace accord.

Fighters of the "CPJP Fondamentale" (the Convention of Patriots for Peace and Justice) led by General Nouredine Adam came across the border from Chad and attacked Sido, close to the frontier, on Thursday, the source said.

More than 8,500 refugees have fled the Central African Republic for the Democratic Republic of Congo since last week for fear of attacks by rebels, a Congolese official said Thursday.

Between February 7 and 13, "8,646 people have fled Mobaye", a Central African border town close to positions held by the rebel Seleka coalition, which signed a peace accord with the government last month, Willy Isekusu, local district commissioner for DR Congo's North Ubangi province, told Agence France Presse.