French fighter jets bombed two rebel-held towns in Central African Republic on Thursday, forcing rebels to pull troops out of one of them after fighting with government forces, officials said, according to AP. Rebels withdrew from the northern town of Ouadda after clashes with government troops backed by a small Central African peacekeeping force, Diego Albator Yao, who is in charge of rebel military operations, said by telephone from an undisclosed location. In Paris, French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck said French Mirage fighter planes fired on rebel positions in Ouadda and Ndele, another northern town. He said the French planes intervened at the request of the Central African troops, who met «significant resistance» from rebels in the two towns. Yao said helicopters had also taken part in the French strike on Ndele, but Prazuck could not confirm the report. Yao said rebels still held the town. French firepower has put rebels on the run in recent days.
