REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK -- Another UN peacekeeping contingent serving in the Central African Republic is suspected of sexually abusing street children in Bangui, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.

It was the third case of alleged child sexual abuse involving peacekeepers in that country to have surfaced in recent months.

The UN mission in Bangui has notified the troop-contributing country of the new allegations and has opened an investigation, said Stephane Dujarric.

The country of origin was not identified, but a UN official said it was an African contingent.

"If the allegations are substantiated, this would constitute a grave violation of UN principles and of the code of conduct of peacekeepers," said Dujarric.

The "member-state will be requested to take swift and appropriate punitive action," he added.

In the wake of the previous cases, the UN MINUSCA force has asked Morocco to open a formal investigation following allegations that one of its soldiers raped a girl under the age of 16.

A UN report by rights investigators last year detailed testimony from children in the Central African Republic who said they were sexually abused by French troops and soldiers from Chad and Equatorial Guinea.

The sexual abuse allegedly took place from December 2013 to June 2014, a few months before the United Nations took over from the African Union mission with its MINUSCA force.

France announced last month that 14 soldiers were facing possible charges in the case that only came to light when The Guardian newspaper reported it in April.

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