Peacekeepers in the Central African Republic said Saturday they had recaptured the key town of Sibut from rebel fighters, while their mission received pledges of $132 million dollars from African countries.

The commander of the African Union force told state radio his troops had taken control of the town from former members of the mainly Muslim Seleka rebellion, leaders of a March 2013 coup that plunged the country in chaos.

Violence in Central African Republic could tear the country apart and destabilize the region, officials warned on Saturday as African countries raised cash for a peacekeeping force in the strife-torn country.

The pledging conference comes after African leaders called for urgent solutions to the crisis in Central Africa, a landlocked, resource-rich but impoverished nation where weeks of sectarian violence have killed thousands.

The European Union pledged 45 million euros ($61 million) in fresh funding for the conflict-wracked Central African Republic on Friday, EU officials said.

"We are mobilizing all available resources, not just development aid, to help the people of the Central African Republic and improve their security," said EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs.

Fighting in the capital of strife-torn Central African Republic has killed at least 30 people over the past three days, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday.

Thirty bodies have been collected from the streets of Bangui, the head of the ICRC delegation Georgios Georgantas said, adding that he was very concerned by the "unprecedented level of violence" that has also left at least 60 people wounded.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday renewed a sanctions regime against Democratic Republic of Congo in a vote that sparked a furious row between Congo and Rwanda.

The council backed a sanctions committee report which says the M23 rebel group is recruiting in Rwanda despite its military defeat and that its leaders are moving freely in Uganda.

Fighters from the Central African Republic's Seleka rebel group violently seized a town north of the capital Thursday, sending terrorized civilians fleeing, according to military and diplomatic sources.

A paramilitary police source told Agence France Presse a convoy of about 50 vehicles loaded with Seleka fighters surrounded Sibut on Wednesday night, committing atrocities against the population of the town about 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Bangui.

Conflict in the Central African Republic and South Sudan dominated the agenda as Africa's leaders met in Ethiopia Thursday for a two-day summit.

The African Union meeting, opened by outgoing chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, is officially focused on agriculture and food security.

African leaders and Western diplomats will hold a pledging conference Saturday to raise cash for the African Union-led MISCA mission in war-torn Central African Republic, officials said.

"What we hope is strong support for MISCA, to enable it to implement its mandate more effectively," the director of the AU peace and security council, El-Ghassim Wane, told Agence France Presse.

A Russian diplomat and his wife were stabbed in the Sudanese capital Tuesday by a man anguished by the death of his brother in violence-plagued Central African Republic, police said.

Khartoum police said the diplomat and his wife were wounded with a knife at the embassy gates, adding that their condition was "stable" without giving their names.

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday gave European troops backing to use force in Central African Republic amid a new international push to end deadly chaos in the country.

The United Nations believes at least 10,000 troops will eventually be needed to restore order, France's U.N. ambassador said after the latest U.N. Security Council initiative on the crisis.