French bomb Central African rebels

French fighter jets bombed two rebel-held towns in the Central African Republic today, forcing rebels to pull troops out of one of them after fighting with government forces, officials said.

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.