“The violence started on the night of 15-16 December … the provisional toll is 45 dead and more than 60 injured,” Gentiny Ngobila, the governor of Mai-Ndombe province told AFP.
“The violence is not linked to the electoral campaign under way in the country. It is a conflict between two communities,” he said.
A total of 4,358 refugees have arrived in an area some 300 km north of Brazzavile, an official in the neighbouring country said.
“Today (Tuesday) we have recorded three deaths: two children, one and three years old, from their wounds, and a woman,” Francois Ntsuini, sub-prefect of Makotimpoko in the Plateaux region, told AFP.
“We also received 53 wounded, mostly with shotgun wounds. They are currently being treated,” he added.