The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says violence between armed groups in the Central African Republic has forced more than 10,000 people to seek refuge at a hospital.

MSF says the clashes on Wednesday in Batangafo in the north of the country led to three camps for displaced people being set on fire as well as homes and a market.

Since 2013, CAR has been mired in a cycle of ethnic and religious violence with clashes between largely Muslim fighters of the former Seleka militia and the mostly Christian vigilante group known as anti-Balaka.

In July the UN said deliveries of Russian weapons to CAR’s security forces had caused rebel groups to stockpile guns.

Most of the country is beyond the control of the central government.