Clashes erupted on Saturday between French forces stationed in Cote d'Ivoire and government troops after nine French soldiers were killed in a government offensive.  

Two Cote d'Ivoire fighter jets raided one of the French positions in the central rebel stronghold of Bouake in the afternoon, killing nine soldiers and injuring dozens more of its Unicorn peacekeeping force.

Authorities said it was a mistake of aim made by pilots of two Sukhoi-25 fighters, which threw a 250-kg bomb at a French position manned by 1,000 soldiers.

Cote d'Ivoire government forces have been pounding some rebel-held positions in the north of the country since Thursday.

In response to the attack, French forces destroyed two invading Sukhoi-25 fighters and one MI-24 helicopter.

French schools burnt in revenge

Demonstrators rallied in Abidjan to protest the destruction of two government military aircraft by French forces.

Some took revenge. Four French high schools were burnt by angry demonstrators, some of whom also looted families of French citizens in Abidjan.

Paris urged Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo to restore peace in his country.

"The head of state should clearly ensure his responsibility and it is his role to restore peace in his country, especially in Abidjan," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said in a statement.

France's three Mirage fighter jets and a KC-135 supply aircraft are on alert in the Gabonese capital Libreville, French Defense Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said.

Cote d'Ivoire was plunged into civil war in September 2002 after a failed coup. The country remains divided despite a 2003 cease-fire agreement between the government and rebels, who are still holding the north of the country.

France has 4,000 peacekeepers to monitor the truce alongside 6,000 UN peacekeeping troops in this former French colony.

International condemnation

The UN Security Council condemned the attacks on French forces in Bouake, said a Security Council statement issued after a closed-door meeting. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan attended the emergency meeting called by French UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere.

The statement, drafted by France and the United States, condemned "the bloody air strikes" by government forces in the north, labeling them as a violation of the May 3, 2003 cease-fire agreement.

The Security Council demanded "an immediate cessation of all military operations and complete respect for the cease-fire."

France also appealed for a Security Council resolution that will give authority to the international force in Cote d'Ivoire to use force for self defense.

"We will certainly react today to what has happened, and the discussion will continue in the council in the coming days," de la Sabliere said. "We will discuss in the coming days the measures the Security Council has to take."

The African Union (AU) called on all sides in the latest Cote d'Ivoire conflict to immediately halt all hostilities. AU Chairman Olusegun Obasanjo expressed deep concern at the renewed fighting, said an AU statement after an emergency meeting at Obasanjo's Ota farm in southwest Nigeria.

(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2004)