French commandos have attacked a base of Islamist militants in Somalia in a hostage rescue attempt, a Somali intelligence official said.

Britain could send extra military assets to the Strait of Hormuz to deter any attempt by Iran to block Persian Gulf oil tanker traffic, the country’s defence secretary said, as Tehran insisted a European Union ban on the purchase of its oil would have little sting.

A Lithuanian military plane has crashed after colliding in mid-air with a French Nato jet, officials said.

FRANCE has sent weapons to Libyan civilians besieged by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, a military spokesman has said.

France has sent weapons to Libyan civilians besieged by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, a military spokesman has said.

BRITISH jets hit a military barracks in the Libyan capital early yesterday, further intensifying NATO pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to end his 42-year rule.

UNITED NATIONS peacekeepers have surrounded the “last defenders” of Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, after a week of heavy fighting to unseat him.

HEAVY fighting is raging near the presidential palace in the Ivory Coast’s largest city Abidjan as armed forces loyal to the elected president try to install him in power and oust the country’s strongman.

French fighter jets have shot down a Libyan plane, a US official said today.

French airstrikes have hit an air base deep inside Libya in a bid to stop arms movement or the flow of mercenaries, a military official says.

Hundreds of rebels penetrated the capital of Chad today, clashing with government troops and moving on the presidential palace after a three-day advance across the Central African nation, officials and witnesses said. Looting, gunfire and explosions were reported.

Chad state radio went off the air today as rebels advanced into the capital, opposition leader Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh said.