The UN Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to send 12,000 UN peacekeepers to Central African Republic (CAR) a day after the first EU troops arrived in the country, as police said fresh sectarian violence killed at least 30 people.

The resolution, submitted by France, will deploy up to 10,000 military personnel and 1,800 police to the former French colony, where sectarian violence has killed thousands in the last year.

The UN peacekeeping mission is scheduled to take over on September 15 from 2,000 French and 6,000 African Union soldiers already in place.

Priorities for the new peacekeeping force include the protection of civilians and humanitarian convoys, maintaining order, supporting the political transition and promoting respect for human rights.

On Wednesday an initial contingent of 55 EU troops made their first patrols in the capital Bangui.

The troops are to maintain security and train local officers, French army spokesman Francois Guillermet told AFP.

At least 30 people, mostly civilians, were killed on Tuesday in the latest clashes between mainly Christian militias and minority Muslim fighters in the central town of Dekoa, according to police.

A coup in March last year by the Muslim Seleka rebels plunged the country into chaos. After seizing power, some of the rebels went rogue and embarked on a campaign of killing, raping and looting.

The abuses prompted members of the Christian majority to form vigilantes called "anti-balaka," or anti-machete in the local Sango language, unleashing a wave of brutal killings in the former French colony.

In Tuesday's violence "anti-balaka" militia attacked Seleka positions in Dekoa, some 300 kilometers north of the capital Bangui, police said.

"Most of the victims were civilians who were hit by stray bullets," police said.

Thousands of people have been killed and around a quarter of the country's 4.6 million people have been displaced by the violence in over a year.

The European Union said last week it would send around 800 troops - its first major ground operation in six years.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the conflict has turned into "ethno-religious cleansing," with lynchings, decapitations and sexual violence going unpunished.

AFP