More than 40 people have been killed and dozens wounded in Central African Republic (CAR), in an attack on a Catholic mission sheltering 20,000 refugees, according to a regional legislator.

The violence in the town of Alindao, some 300km east of the capital, Bangui, began on Thursday when Christian militiamen known as "Anti-balaka" killed Muslims, prompting revenge attacks.

A church was burned, forcing "thousands" of people to flee, the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in the CAR (MINUSCA) said.

"We have counted 42 bodies so far, but we are still searching for others. The camp has been burned to the ground and people fled into the bush and to other IDP (internally displaced person) camps in the city," Etienne Godenaha, Alindao legislator, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday.

A humanitarian source also said that more than 40 people were killed, according to Reuters. The UN on Friday said 37 deaths had been confirmed in Alindao, including that of a priest.

On Saturday, the Catholic Church said that the remains of a second priest were recovered in Alindao.

"We found his charred body," Father Mathieu Bondobo, the vicar-general of the main cathedral in Bangui, told the AFP news agency.

The violence came just weeks about 10,000 people ran to a hospital in Batangafo, some 400km north of Bangui, after armed groups looted and burned thousands of homes, three camps hosting 27,000 displaced and a market in the city.

In a statement on Saturday, MINUSCA condemned the latest violence that "resulted in the loss of life, mass displacement of internally displaced people and the destruction of property".

It also said it had implemented "security measures" to protect civilians who sought refuge near the mission's military outposts. (Aljazeera)

Update news