Armed group kills 26 in Central African Republic says the UN

Bangui. More than 26 people were killed and many more wounded when an armed group attacked two villages in northwestern Central African Republic on Tuesday, the UN's peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) said.

The massacre took place in the villages of Koundjili and Djoumjoum, MINUSCA head Mankeur Ndiaye said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Ndiaye said the UN peacekeeping mission "utterly condemns" the killing, and vowed: "The authors of crimes such as these will be sought, arrested and brought to justice."

The slaughter was the biggest single loss of life since the government and 14 militias signed a deal in February aimed at restoring peace to one of Africa's most troubled countries.

News of the bloodshed coincided with an announcement by the Vatican that a French-Spanish nun had been brutally murdered in a village in southwestern CAR where she had taught sewing to young girls.

A UN source said the killings in the northwest were carried out by a group called 3R, which hosted a meeting with the villagers and then gunned them down indiscriminately.

"Twelve people were killed in Koundjili and 14 in Djoumjoum," the source said.

The group takes its initials from three words in French meaning "Return, Reclamation and Reconciliation". It claims to represent the Fulani, one of the CAR's many ethnic groups.

The militia was one of the 14 groups that signed the February 6 peace accord, the eighth attempt to still violence in the impoverished country.

Under the deal, the government gave out key positions to warlords and agreed to set up mixed units of regular troops and militiamen.

The head of 3R, Bi Sidi Souleymane, also known as Sidiki, was appointed one of three "special military advisors" to the prime minister, in charge of setting up the combined units.

Bloody legacy

The CAR has been struggling to recover from the bloodletting that erupted when former President Francois Bozize, a Christian, was overthrown in 2013 by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels.

Armed groups, typically claiming to defend an ethnic or religious group, control about 80 percent of the CAR, often fighting over access to the country's mineral wealth.

Thousands have lost their lives, nearly 650,000 have fled their homes and another 575,000 have left the country, according to UN figures as of December last year.

In Rome, Vatican News said that a 77-year-old French-Spanish nun was found beheaded early Monday in the southwestern town of Nola, where she worked in a centre to help young girls.

"According to a local member of parliament, the murder could be linked to trafficking in human organs," the site said.

Pope Francis paid tribute to the nun, describing the murder of a woman "who gave her life for Jesus in the service of the poor" as "barbaric".

He called for those gathered in St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience to pray in silence for her.