Rebels in the Central African Republic seized a key diamond-mining town on Tuesday and began looting its shops, a top military source said, a day after the insurgents threatened to overthrow the government. The rebels, from a coalition of groups known as Seleka, had conducted several other attacks in the north in recent days that left at least 14 soldiers dead before capturing Bria, a garrison town and key hub of the country's main diamond-mining region.

They "entered the town and began looting shops", a senior military official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that some local residents had taken advantage of the chaos and joined in the pillaging. The Central African armed forces "opened fire on the rebels who were trying to get in, but (the troops) were later forced to fall back," the source said.

Another military source earlier said that soldiers at Bria's army base had "tried to resist but then quickly many retreated and the base fell to the assailants." Bria is the main town in the poor, landlocked country's diamond-mining area, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital, Bangui.

According to government figures, Bria, a town of some 30,000 people, accounts for 10 to 15 percent of the roughly $65 million (50 million euros) in diamonds the Central African Republic produces each year. Resident Christelle Padoundji, 28, told AFP by phone: "The rebels are now in control of the town. People who are able to have already left. Those who are still here are hiding in their homes." "My pregnant wife is having labour pains but I can't bring her to the hospital because I don't know when it (the fighting) might start again," said Medard Kianda, 51, a diamond miner.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012