LONDON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A group monitoring the safety of news correspondents expressed alarm after journalists came under threat in the Central African Republic.
The International News Safety Institute, which has headquarters in London, issued a travel advisory after it said journalists from an unnamed news crew were threatened with machetes by residents of a Bangui district with a large Muslim population.
The United Nations last weekend said more than 450 people were killed during recent fighting in Bangui, the capital of the former French colony.
ISNI said the security situation in CAR was deteriorating despite the arrival of French military forces deployed to help an African Union peacekeeping force.
The rebel Seleka coalition, a Muslim organization, toppled the CAR government in March. The post-coup conflict has approached the verge of genocide as Christian militias take up arms against their Muslim rivals.
ISNI said Monday journalists working in Muslim areas of the capital city have come under threat after trying to report on the violence.
The U.S. Defense Department said Monday it sent eight transport jets full of military equipment from neighboring Burundi to CAR to support the French and AU missions in the troubled nation.
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