More than 100 girls and women have come forward with new sexual abuse accusations against international peacekeepers in Central African Republic, the UN said on Thursday, calling allegations that a French military commander forced three girls to have sex with a dog "shocking to the core". The revelations dramatically expand an already alarming scandal involving troops sent to protect civilians in the world's hotspots who become predators instead. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 108 alleged victims of sexual abuse have been interviewed by a UN team in Kemo prefecture, east of the capital Bangui, the vast majority of them minors. The allegations date from 2013 through last year and far eclipse the 22 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation in Central African Republic in 2015 that the UN reported earlier this month. Dujarric said the UN can't confirm a report by the US-based advocacy group, AIDS-Free World, that three girls told the UN they were taken to a French military camp, tied up, undressed, and forced by a commander to have sex with a dog — but he said the investigation is continuing. According to the group, each girl was given 5,000 Central African Francs, worth about $9, after having sex with the dog, including a fourth girl who later died of an unknown illness. France's UN ambassador, Francois Delattre, called the allegations "sickening and odious" and promised "exemplary disciplinary action" in addition to a criminal response if they're proven true. AIDS-Free World, which first reported the new allegations Wednesday night, said 98 girls in Central African Republic had reported being sexually abused between 2013 and 2015 by perpetrators who have left the country. The group also said information on the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl by a Congolese peacekeeper only three days ago in a hotel room in a different part of the country has been turned over to the United Nations.

US ambassador Samantha Power, who was in CAR for the president's inauguration, visited the town of Bambari Thursday to talk to the families of victims. Congolese soldiers based there had been accused of sexual abuse and exploitation and last month the Congolese battalion was sent home.

Power said she was "sickened" by the latest allegations and it was "gut-wrenching" to listen to family members talk about the victims' "pain and suffering — and the acute sense of betrayal."

AIDS-Free World called the information it received "shocking." Two weeks ago, it said, the UN children's agency Unicef interviewed 98 girls who reported being sexually abused.

The group said a delegation from the UN peacekeeping mission on Saturday met local leaders and victims who alleged that troops from France and Gabon had sexually abused girls. Some victims left the area because they were stigmatized by the community, it said.

In the latest incident, AIDS-Free World said the mother of a 16-year-old girl informed local police that a Congolese UN peacekeeper raped her daughter in a hotel room on Monday afternoon. The police questioned the soldier in the presence of his commander and the group said he confirmed that he "had sexual intercourse" with the victim several times and paid her between 2,000 and 5,000 Central African Francs.