Reinforcements have begun arriving for an African peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic

The land-locked, mineral-rich nation has slipped into chaos since northern rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in March. U.N. officials and rights groups say both sides may have committed war crimes in the violence.

Former colonial power France has called on world powers to take action to prevent the country following Somalia's path to decades of lawlessness and efforts are focusing on beefing up a 1,100-strong African force that has long been deployed.

"The force will reach 2,000 soldiers (in September) and hit 3,600 by January 2014," an official who took part in regional meetings hosted by Gabon told Reuters on Tuesday.

Further meetings are due to take place in Gabon later this week to decide on the leadership and make up of the force.

Moussa Fati Mahamat, Chad's foreign minister, said the force, to be known as MISCA, will have an African Union mandate to carry out more robust operations than the existing mission operated under Central Africa's CEEAC regional bloc.

Michel Djotodia, who swept to power at the head of the rebellion, was officially sworn in as the country's president last month but he has failed to contain waves of looting and killing by gunmen.

Djotodia last week sacked the head of the armed forces after days of clashes with fighters loyal to Bozize killed 100 people.

CAR is rich in gold, diamonds and uranium but decades of instability and the spillover from conflicts in its larger neighbors have left the nation's 4.5 million people mired in cycles of crises.