New York- A UN peacekeeper from Pakistan was killed in the Central African Republic during a flare-up of violence engulfing the capital of Bangui after months of relative calm.

Another soldier was severely wounded during the ambush on a joint Pakistani-Bangladeshi convoy and seven others suffered slight injuries, UN officials said. It was the first peacekeeper death of the mission that deployed last month in the Central African Republic, taking over from African-led troops that were sent after a March 2013 coup plunged the country into bloodshed and chaos. The head of the UN mission, Babacar Gaye, strongly condemned the ambush. "This crime against the UN peacekeepers, who are here to help the people of the Central African Republic, is unacceptable, and the perpetrators will be held accountable and brought to justice," he said.

Bangui has been rocked by two days of violence pitting the city's Muslim and Christian populations, leaving at least seven people dead and many dozens wounded, according to UN sources in Bangui. The fresh violence was apparently ignited by a grenade attack in a Bangui street blamed on a Muslim assailant on a motorbike, followed by the murder of a taxi driver allegedly by Muslim gunmen who set fire to several houses. The UN mission chief said his forces would take "robust action" to prevent "a very difficult situation from spiraling out of control."

The death of a UN peacekeeper in Central African Republic comes amid heightened concern over the UN mission in northern Mali where a wave of attacks have killed 31 peacekeepers since July last year.