Rwandan peacekeepers to be sent to CAfrican Republic

Smoke rises from wood fires, as displaced people prepare their evening meals, at a makeshift camp on a church ground in the Castor neighborhood of Bangui, Central African Republic, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013. According to church officials, more than 40,000 people sleep at the site, many of them in the open air. More than 200,000 people are already displaced in the capital city, and people continue to arrive at camps across the city. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (The Associated Press)

A young man recovers his mobile phone from a booth offering phone charging and cell phone calls for a fee, at a makeshift camp for people displaced by sectarian violence, in the Castor neighborhood of Bangui, Central African Republic, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013. According to church officials, more than 40,000 people sleep at the site, many of them in the open air. More than 200,000 people are already displaced in the capital city, and people continue to arrive at camps across the city. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (The Associated Press)

Displaced people camp out on a church ground in the Castor neighborhood of Bangui, Central African Republic, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013. According to church officials, more than 40,000 people sleep at the site each night, many of them in the open air. More than 200,000 people are already displaced in the capital city, and people fleeing deadly sectarian violence continue to arrive daily at the makeshift camps. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (The Associated Press)

The African Union's commissioner for peace and security has announced that a contingent of Rwandan peacekeepers will deploy to the Central African Republic, where nine other peacekeepers have been killed in less than a month.

After touring the country's troubled capital on Saturday, Smail Chergui said that the Rwandan troops will join the 3,800 African Union peacekeepers already stationed there as early as January 2014.

The African Union force in the Central African Republic has been dogged by accusations that its contingent from Chad — made up of Muslim soldiers — have sided with the Muslim rebels who overran Bangui nine months ago, seizing power in a coup which ousted the nation's Christian president. In the past week, reporters saw the Chadian troops open fire on a crowd of Christian demonstrators.