The UN Security Council has threatened to impose a fresh round of sanctions to contain a recent wave of violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) that has claimed the lives of over 60 people.

The 15-member Council on Tuesday said in a unanimously adopted statement that it was ready to impose the sanctions to punish those responsible for the surge of violence in the African country.

The Council “reiterates its intention to further expand” the sanctions list by “adding those responsible for the recent outbreak of violence,” the statement added.

Diplomatic sources say France, one of the five permanent members of the Council, has been drawing a new list of individuals to be blacklisted following the wave of violence in late September.

The Security Council has already imposed two rounds of sanctions targeting individuals accountable for violence in CAR.

September’s violent clashes in the capital, Bangui, have left at least 61 people dead and 300 others injured.

The chaos was triggered by the murder of a Muslim taxi driver on September 26. The killing caused ethnic turmoil in several districts of the capital where barricades were set up to block armed Christian militia groups roaming on the main streets.

To quell the violence, which was the worst this year in the capital, soldiers from the peacekeeping forces in CAR took action to disperse the crowds.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, along with French troops, has been deployed to the country to restore security.

The Security Council has urged authorities in the volatile landlocked country to set a new date for elections.

Presidential and parliamentary elections set for October were scrapped because of the latest wave of violent clashes. The transitional government blamed the September violence on individuals who were seeking to derail the upcoming elections.

In an attempt to restore peace and stability to the former French colony, a transitional government headed by Catherine Samba Panza was formed in August 2014. It included members from different political parties and ethnic groups.