Some residents of Bangui reported rampant looting after Seleka rebels entered the Central African Republic capital March 23, Xinhua reported March 25.

Rebels in the Central African Republic, after toppling President Francois Bozize on March 24, will keep a power-sharing government installed under a January peace deal, rebel leader Michel Djotodia said March 25, Reuters reported.

Syrian opposition campaigners said March 25 that Syrian forces fired what they said were chemical weapons from multiple rocket launchers at rebels surrounding an army base in the town of Adra on the outskirts of Damascus, Reuters reported.

France has deployed troops to the Central African Republic after Seleka rebels clashed with government forces in the capital of Bangui, Reuters reported March 23.

A column of fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition advanced on the nation's capital March 23 from the northwest, while government forces are already engaging rebels attacking from the northeast, Reuters reported.

Rebels took the 38th division air defense base, near the southern town of Saida, Deraa province, on the Damascus-Amman highway, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said March 23, Reuters reported, but said it was not immediately able to verify the report.

Russian naval ships may carry out port calls in Beirut after a bilateral agreement, but the supply and maintenance base at Syria's Tartus port will remain at the disposal of the Russian navy, a military source said March 22, Interfax reported.

One of the top Syrian clerics, Dr. Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, and at least 15 other people were killed March 21 when a suicide bomber attacked Iman mosque in the Mazraa area of Damascus, Al Arabiya reported, citing Syrian state television.