BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The United Nations took over a regional African peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic on Monday, nine months after sectarian violence erupted that has left at least 5,000 people dead and has forced tens of thousands of Muslims to flee into exile in neighboring countries.

About 1,800 additional peacekeepers and police joined the mission as the United Nations took over, along with some 4,800 African troops and 1,000 international police from the previous mission. But the newly combined force is only about 65 percent of what was authorized by the U.N. Security Council in April.