WEARY and frightened villagers straggling from the bush in western Ivory Coast tell of dozens of killings and wanton abuses after a surge of fighting that has soured hopes of peace.

Two French soldiers have been injured in a clash with rebel fighters in western Ivory Coast, the French military said today.

Rebels clashed with French forces in war-torn Ivory Coast today, firing mortars at positions held by the elite soldiers of the former colonial master.