Attack on CAR president's home

There have been a series of protests in Bangui

Reports from the Central African Republic say there has been shooting outside the residence of President Ange-Felix Patasse in the capital, Bangui.

Details are still unclear, but eyewitnesses said there was an exchange of gunfire between presidential guards and gunmen starting at about midnight local time (0100 GMT) on Monday.

The BBC's correspondent in Bangui said that the gunmen come from a unit of the country's army.

President Patasse was elected in 1993 after 12 years of military rule

The shooting comes after months of demonstrations against Mr Patasse over the failure to pay civil service salaries, but it is not clear if the shooting is part of an attempted coup d'etat.

The CAR was destabilised by a series of army mutinies in the early 1990s.

The BBC correspondent also said that mortars were fired at the presidential residence from the hills overlooking it.

The whereabouts and condition of the president himself is not known.

Deaths

Hospital sources said there had been fatalities but there have been conflicting reports as to which side suffered them.

One report said that four presidential guards had been killed, but there has been no confirmation.

Sources close to the presidential guard said that they killed some of the attackers.

By daylight on Monday sporadic shooting was still being heard from the area around the presidential residence as well as the southern part of the capital, which is known as an opposition stronghold.

History of tension

The southern areas of the capital are populated largely by ethnic groups from the south of the republic. They have long had grievances against Mr Patasse, who comes from the north.

Troops loyal to the president are reported to be in control of the north of the city.

This is almost a carbon copy of events that unfolded in 1996 when southern troops mutinied against the head of state.

On that occasion France sent in military forces to evacuate foreign nationals and to intervene on the side of Mr Patasse.

United Nations troops sent to Bangui to prevent a repetition of the unrest were only withdrawn last year.