© WWF-Canon / Carlos Drews

Activists say forest elephants -- like this one seen in a forest clearing in the Dzanga Sangha Protected Area in January 2012 -- are being slaughtered amid violent chaos in the Central African Republic.

An "extensive" slaughter of elephants appears to be underway in the Central African Republic with reports of their meat being sold openly in markets, according to activists.

Rebel fighters pushed into Bangui, the capital of the impoverished but mineral-rich country, in March and ousted President Francois Bozize.

In a joint statement issued Thursday, the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society said poachers were exploiting the chaotic situation to kill elephants and called for “immediate action” to stop them.

The statement said that “the exact number of elephants slaughtered is not known, however initial reports indicate it may be extensive.”

“WWF has confirmed information that forest elephants are being poached near the Dzanga-Sangha protected areas, a World Heritage Site,” the statement said.

“Elephant meat is reportedly being openly sold in local markets and available in nearby villages. The security situation is preventing park staff from searching the dense forest for elephant carcasses,” it added.

The statement said that up to 30,000 elephants are killed in Africa each year for their ivory tusks, which are in demand in Asia.

WWF and WCS called on the Central African Republic and its neighbors to increase security in the area to protect the elephants and local people.

Jim Leape, WWF’s director general, said “heroic rangers” in the CAR were “standing firm in the face of immense danger,” but added that they needed more help.

“The elephant poaching crisis – driven by insatiable ivory demand – is so severe that no area is safe,” he said.

Staff from WWF and WCS have been forced to evacuate because of the ongoing violence. WWF said its offices in Dzanga-Sangha had been looted three times in the past month.

Dzanga-Sangha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to 3,400 forest elephants, smaller than their cousins on the African savannah with straighter, slimmer tusks, according to Reuters.

Eight conservation organizations working in the Congo Basin have called on the African countries to build up their links with China and Thailand, two of Asia's biggest ivory importers, to find a solution to the crisis, the news service said. Representatives from the region's governments will meet next week to discuss the proposals. 

Rhinos have already been hunted to extinction in the region, Reuters reported, because of the demand for their horns for Asian medicinal concoctions.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

Poachers kill dozens of elephants, including 33 pregnant females, in Chad

Family of 12 elephants slain by poachers in Kenya

Hunted for horns worth more than gold, S. Africa's rhinos face worst year on record

Sia Kambou / AFP - Getty Images

A Centrafrican military convoy drives on a road going to Sibut, 114 miles north of Bangui, the country's capital on Saturday. Sibut was seized by the rebel coalition Seleka.

As rebels approached the capital of the embattled Central African Republic, the U.S. shuttered its embassy and moved out its ambassador and about 40 diplomats, the Guardian of London reported.

“This decision is solely due to concerns about the security of our personnel and has no relation to our continuing and long-standing diplomatic relations with the (Central African Republic),” read a statement posted Friday to the embassy’s website.

The Seleka rebels seized the city of Sibut about 114 miles from Bangui, the capital, a government official confirmed to The Associated Press. Sibut, a transportation hub, fell to the rebels without a shot fired because the government army had pulled back on Friday.

The rebels accuse President François Bozizé of not meeting terms of a 2007 peace agreement, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, Bozizé, who grabbed power in 2003 and has since been twice elected president, has pleaded for international help, appealing to the French in particular. The French government, the former colonial power, has refused to step in.

The Central African Republic, with a population of about 4.4 million, is landlocked between other politically unstable countries at the heart of the continent. President Barack Obama sent about 100 special operations troops to the region in April to hunt down Joseph Kony, the rebel leader of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army and the subject of a widely viewed, 30-minute documentary, Kony 2012.

Related: US and Ugandan soldiers go after Joseph Kony

Doctors Without Borders said in a statement this week that clashes between rebels and the army have forced residents to leave their homes – disrupting their missions to bring medical care to the region.

“This situation could have fatal consequences for people already struggling to find care after a decade of chronic armed violence had severely limited the country’s health system,” the statement said. Doctors Without Borders, which has had a presence in the region since 1997, says that malaria is the main focus of its projects there.

Enoch Nodl-ya, a nurse anesthetist for Doctors Without Borders, provided a medical perspective on other issues faced:

For the last 10 years the population has endured the regular presence and attacks from armed men in this region. People are scared and flee rapidly into the bush. As a consequence, many women give birth in the fields without any assistance and most sick or wounded are hesitant to receive medical assistance, scared of possible violence in the populated areas. When the violence stops, we often see patients coming in an advance stage of their diseases.

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Reuters

Hundreds protest in front of the French Embassy in the Bangui, Central African Republic, on Wednesday, expressing anger over the lack of response by the former colonial power to rebels advancing on the capital.

U.S. diplomats and other American citizens have been evacuated from the Central African Republic and U.S. embassy operations have been suspended in the capital, Bangui, the State Department said Thursday. The move came as rebel forces advanced on the city.

"This decision is solely due to concerns about the security of our personnel and has no relation to our continuing and long-standing diplomatic relations with the (Central African Republic)," said State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell.

Insurgents on motorbikes and in pickup trucks have driven to within 45 miles of Bangui after weeks of fighting, threatening to end President Francois Bozize's nearly 10-year rule over the turbulent, resource-rich country.

Bozize appealed to the United States and France to help push back the rebels.

Some U.S. Special Forces are operating in the country, trying to track down the Lords Resistance Army, a rebel group responsible for killing thousands of civilians across four African nations. There was no indication that these forces would be used to aid Bozize against the advancing insurgents.

Earlier a senior defense official told NBC News that there were "several hundred" civilians, including Americans and citizens of close U.S. allies who may be evacuated, but comments by the State Department's Ventrell suggested fewer had left: 

"Ambassador (Laurence) Wohlers and his diplomatic team left Bangui today along with several private U.S. citizens," according to Ventrell.

The non-combatant evacuation operation transported "U.S. citizens and designated foreign nationals to safe havens in the region," according to a statement from Defense Department spokesman Todd Breasseale. The flight out of Bangui was "wheels up" at about 7:15 p.m. ET. 

Paris said its troops would protect French nationals, but not be involved in repelling the rebels. 

Some 1,200 French nationals live in the CAR, mostly in the capital, according to the French Foreign Ministry, where they typically work for mining firms or aid groups.

French nuclear energy group Areva mines the Bakouma uranium deposit in the CAR's south — France's biggest commercial interest in its former colony. 

Bozize on Thursday appealed for French and U.S. military support to stop the SELEKA rebel coalition, which has promised to overthrow him unless he implements a previous peace deal in full.

France: 'Those days are over'
He told a crowd of anti-rebel protesters in the riverside capital that he had asked Paris and Washington to help move the rebels away from the capital to clear the way for peace talks which regional leaders say could be held soon in Libreville, Gabon.

"We are asking our cousins the French and the United States, which are major powers, to help us push back the rebels to their initial positions in a way that will permit talks in Libreville to resolve this crisis," Bozize said.

Georges Gobet / AFP - Getty Images file

Central African Republic President Francois Bozize in 2008.

France has 250 soldiers in its landlocked former colony as part of a peacekeeping mission and Paris in the past has ousted or propped up governments — including by using air strikes to defend Bozize against rebels in 2006.

But French President Francois Hollande poured cold water on the latest request for help.

"If we have a presence, it's not to protect a regime, it's to protect our nationals and our interests and in no way to intervene in the internal business of a country, in this case the Central African Republic," Hollande said on the sidelines of a visit to a wholesale food market outside Paris.

"Those days are over," he said.

France is increasingly reluctant to directly intervene in conflicts in its former colonies. Since coming to power in May, Hollande has promised to put ties with its former colonies on a healthier footing.

The rebel advance has highlighted the instability of a country that has remained poor since independence from Paris in 1960 despite rich deposits of uranium, gold and diamonds. Average income is barely over $2 a day.

Regional African leaders, meantime, tried to broker a ceasefire deal and rebels said they had temporarily halted their advance on Bangui to allow talks to take place.

Officials from around central Africa were to meet in Bangui later on Thursday to open initial talks with the government and rebels.

A rebel spokesman said fighters had temporarily halted their advance to allow dialogue.

"We will not enter Bangui," Col. Djouma Narkoyo, the rebel spokesman, told Reuters by telephone.

Previous rebel promises to stop advancing have been broken, and a diplomatic source said rebels had taken up positions around Bangui on Thursday, effectively surrounding it.

The atmosphere remained tense in Bangui the day after anti-rebel protests broke out, and residents were stocking up on food and water.

Government soldiers deployed at strategic sites and French troops reinforced security at the French embassy after protesters threw rocks at the building on Wednesday.

Bozize came to power in a 2003 rebellion that overthrew President Ange-Felix Patasse.

The government holds little sway outside the capital, and in some parts of the country, the consequences of conflicts in troubled neighbors Chad, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have spilled over.

This report includes reporting by Reuters and NBC News' Courtney Kube.

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A Swedish safari boss, his British pilot and 13 of their staff have been accused of torturing and killing 18 people in the Central African Republic, according to reports.

However, Erik Mararv, of Central African Wildlife Adventures, and 24-year-old aviator David Simpson say they simply discovered the bodies and were arrested when they reported the gruesome find to the authorities, according to Britain's Channel 4 News. 

The people killed in the massacre were burned with hot water and then hacked to death with machetes.

Simpson said he spotted the bodies while flying over the southeast of the country, near Bakouma, and he believes they were killed by Joseph Kony’s infamous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Simpson’s brother Paul told Channel 4 that he thought they were being blackmailed, while a member of Conciliation Resources, a charity that campaigns for peace and has worked on the Kony problem, suggested they were being “scapegoated” because of the inability of the authorities to tackle the LRA.

'I had nothing to do with it'
Despite being held in jail for more than six weeks, Simpson has access to a cellphone and a laptop computer, although communications are difficult.

“Now I have been forced to sign a piece of paper which states that I have been charged with murdering 13 people," he told the Daily Mail newspaper. "It is just ridiculous. Everyone knows I had nothing to do with it. They know it was Kony. 

“It’s all about money. They think because I am white, I must be wealthy," he added. "When they first arrested me, my bail was set at one million euros, which is just ludicrous. I do not know what is going to happen. It’s like a nightmare. I’m sleeping on the floor with no blankets or mattress. I just want this to be over."

'Big fish' nabbed: Troops capture senior Kony commander

Speaking from Gillamoor, England, David’s father Peter Simpson told Channel 4 that their situation was “about as stressful a thing as you could ever wish to happen to anybody.”

But he added that he was “positive he [David] will come back.”

NYT: In vast jungle, US troops aid hunt for Kony

Paul Simpson told Channel 4 that because it was "two white men who reported it, they held them and arrested them and blackmailed them."

'Face-saving exercise'
Caesar Poblicks, of Conciliation Resources, told the broadcaster that the authorities in Central African Republic were “kind of covering up” what really happened.

“It’s a face-saving exercise where he [Simpson] is actually scapegoated for lack of ability to actually apprehend those who have done this kind of activity,” he added.

Central African Wildlife Adventures describes itself as “the most exclusive safari company in Central Africa,” that offers safaris in “the heart of a wilderness within the heart of Africa.”

Sequel to 'Kony 2012' video released

“In the eastern Central African Republic lies a vast territory … totally free of any human encroachment,” its website says.

It says that none of the area where the company operates “has ever been hunted by white men before.”

“Most of it has never even been hunted by natives… It’s simply too far away. The area is very special in the way that we can combine savannah hunting with forest hunting … You may in the morning hunt the majestic Lord Derby Eland and in the evening track one of our forest trails for the elusive Bongo,” it added. “Or why not call for lion? We entirely hunt our lions either by tracking or by calling in early mornings or late afternoons. This is one of the most adrenaline rushing hunts one can ever experience.”

In 'Kony' town, video is hardly a sensation

The U.K. Foreign Office advises people not to travel to the southeastern part of the country, including Bakouma.

The State Department warns that “armed rebel groups, bandits, and poachers present real dangers, and the Central African government is unable to guarantee the safety of visitors in most parts of the country.”

“The continued presence of the Lord’s Resistance Army in eastern CAR poses a particular safety and security threat,” it adds in online information about the country.

It says U.S. citizens should not travel outside the capital Bangui unless it is essential.

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James Akena / Reuters

Caesar Achellam, center, is a close ally of rebel leader Joseph Kony and had masterminded the Lord's Resistance Army's relocation from northern Uganda, analysts say.

RIVER VOVODO, Central African Republic -- Uganda has captured one of the top five members of the Lord's Resistance Army, bringing it a step closer to catching Joseph Kony, the notorious rebel leader accused of war crimes, the military said on Sunday.

The Ugandan army said it caught Caesar Achellam, a major general in Kony's outfit of about 200 fighters, in an ambush along the banks of the River Mbou in Central African Republic (CAR) on Saturday.

Achellam was armed with just an AK-47 rifle and eight rounds of ammunition, a spokesman for the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), said. He was being held with his wife, a young daughter and a helper.

Ugandan army Lt. Col. Abdul Rugumayo told The Associated Press that Achellam was in a group of about 30 LRA rebels. The others escaped.

NYT: In vast jungle, US troops aid hunt for Kony

Although Achellam is not one of the LRA commanders indicted along with Kony in 2005 by the International Criminal Court, Ugandan officials say he was Kony's top military strategist.

The UPDF, which has a force hunting for Kony full-time in the jungles of CAR, backed by U.S. troops, said the capture of Achellam would encourage other fighters to abandon the LRA.

"The arrest of Major General Caesar Achellam is big progress because he is a big fish," said UPDF spokesman Felix Kulaigye. "His capture is definitely going to cause an opinion shift within the LRA."

In 'Kony' town, video is hardly a sensation

Achellam, who was paraded before media, walked with a limp, which he attributed to an old wound. He was returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo when he walked into the soldiers' ambush. UPDF said it had been on his trail for a month.

'Very troubling for Kony'
Analysts said Achellam was a close ally of Kony and had masterminded the group's relocation from northern Uganda.

"From whichever angle you look at it, the loss of Achellam should be very troubling for Kony and a big boost for his manhunt," said Angelo Izama, an analyst who has written extensively on the LRA.

Sequel to 'Kony 2012' video released

Kony, a self-styled mystic leader who at one time wanted to rule Uganda according to the biblical Ten Commandments, fled northern Uganda in 2005, roaming first the lawless expanses of South Sudan, then the isolated northeastern tip of Congo.

In December 2008, Uganda launched Operation Lightning Thunder against the LRA, dispersing the rebels and pushing them north into CAR.

Sex slaves
The rebels live in the jungles of CAR surviving on wild yams, stolen cattle and drinking from rivers.

Kony is accused of abducting children to use as fighters and sex slaves and is said to have a fondness for hacking off limbs.

A 30-minute YouTube video by California-based film-maker Jason Russell calling for the arrest of Kony swept across the Internet in March, attracting tens of millions of views, bringing the LRA's atrocities to the attention of many people previously unaware of the group's existence.

How the 'Kony 2012' video went viral

The Ugandan government, the African Union and the United States all stepped up their commitment to the hunt for Kony in the wake of the outrage caused by the video, "Kony 2012".

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