BANGUI, Central African Republic — Muslim rebels in the Central African Republic have killed at least 34 people over the past week in a series of attacks on remote villages, a local official said Saturday.

The country, which has been fractured by ethnic and religious violence over the past year, is awaiting the arrival of a United Nations peacekeeping mission next month.

The local official, Bienvenu Sarapata, mayor of the Mbres commune north of the capital, Bangui, said Saturday that the attacks were committed by former members of the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance that ruled the country for 10 months.

The Seleka fighters were forced to give up power in January, and they have regrouped in the northern part of the country in recent months, launching new attacks. A mostly Christian militia that was organized to counter the rebel alliance has also carried out attacks, some against civilians.