French forces deployed in the strife-torn Central African Republic began moving into the east of the country this week, the head of the operation General Francisco Soriano said Thursday.

"The third phase (of the intervention) began this week and we started deploying in the east," he told reporters in Paris during a video conference.

Chad announced Thursday it was withdrawing from the African peacekeeping force in Central African Republic after being accused of siding with a mainly Muslim movement that seized power last year.

Chad came under the spotlight at the weekend when at least 24 people were killed and another 100 seriously wounded by Chadian soldiers sent to repatriate their compatriots from the CAR, according to officials there.

The European Union officially launched its delayed military mission to the Central African Republic on Tuesday, seeking to bolster French and African forces that have failed to end months of Christian-Muslim violence.

The 1,000-strong force, dubbed EUFOR RCA, will work to restore security to the capital Bangui during a six-month mission, with a view to handing over to a United Nations peacekeeping operation or African troops, the EU said.

Hundreds of residents of the Central African Republic capital Bangui were still fleeing on Tuesday after an attack in which Chadian soldiers fired into a crowd, killing at least 24.

Most of the mainly Christian people leaving northern Bangui headed for displaced persons' camps scattered throughout the city, where flags flew at half-mast as part of three days of national mourning for the latest casualties.

The U.N.'s refugee agency said Tuesday it was prepared to help evacuate some 19,000 Muslims at risk of attack from mainly Christian militias in the conflict-torn Central African Republic.

"What we don't want is to stand by and watch people being slaughtered," UNHCR spokeswoman Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba told reporters in Geneva.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned fresh violence in the Central African Republic over the weekend, calling for civilians to be protected at all times, a spokesman said.

Ban also called for the compilation of a list of individuals who "act to undermine peace, stability and security" as set out by a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December last year.

The European Union on Saturday signaled that it is ready to deploy its delayed peacekeeping force to help put down the escalating crisis in Central African Republic, after obtaining additional backing for the mission.

The troops were due to deploy last week, but there were insufficient soldiers for the mission and not enough aircraft at hand to transport them.

At least 20 people died when extremists threw hand grenades at a crowd of mourners during a funeral service in the Central African Republic capital Bangui overnight, the government said on Friday.

"Around 11:00 pm (Thursday) a group of extremists, well known to the police, threw hand grenades at a crowd that was attending a wake," Public Security Minister Denis Wangao Kizimale told national radio.

French President Francois Hollande is to co-chair a "mini-summit" of 15 European and 15 African nations in Brussels on Wednesday over the escalating crisis in the Central African Republic.

EU officials said Friday that the talks would be held ahead of a wider EU-Africa summit starting Wednesday afternoon that is to gather 90 nations from both continents and include 65 heads of state and government.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday sounded a strong note of alarm over the escalation of violence in recent days in the capital of the Central African Republic.

"I am alarmed by the deteriorating situation in Bangui and the escalation of violence there since March 22," she said.