French Forces Come under Fierce Attack in C Africa

Local Editor

French troops had to call for air backup to battle off an assault by well-armed militants in the Central African Republic on Monday, in clashes that left several gunmen dead, the military chief of staff in Paris said.
Around 40 heavily-armed militants on motorcycles and pick-up trucks swarmed onto the French soldiers on a road leading to the village of Boguila in the northwest of the strife-torn country, a spokesman said.

"Faced with the aggressiveness of this adversary, the French force resorted to heavy arms, mortars and anti-tank missiles," said Colonel Gilles Jaron.

"There was air backup from fighter jets from N'Djamena" in neighboring Chad.

The battle, which lasted for about three hours and stopped as darkness fell, destroyed part of the militant convoy and left several of the attackers dead, the army chief said.

No casualties were reported on the French side.

France has deployed about 2,000 troops to back the 6,000 Africans of the MISCA force.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team