BANGUI, Central African Republic - Five peacekeepers from Chad have been killed in clashes in the Central African Republic capital, the force's spokesman told AFP on Thursday.

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

"Yesterday the city was in total chaos and this chaos lasted until the end of the night, today we are trying to understand what happened," he said.

The Chadian contingent of the African Union peacekeeping force has been accused of siding with a mostly Muslim former rebel group in the strife-torn majority Christian country.

SOURCE: AFP