French army kills fighters in C. Africa operation

Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - French troops have killed several armed fighters in the Central African Republic as Paris on Friday rolled out a UN-backed operation to restore security after a bloodbath that left dozens of bodies strewn across the capital. The French army said its soldiers killed the armed men Thursday in a dawn clash near the airport of the capital Bangui. "An armed pick-up opened fire three times in the direction of civilians and French troops. On Friday, warplanes overflew Bangui, a day after at least 140 civilians were killed in the capital -- many clubbed or hacked to death in violence that erupted amid international warnings that the country risked sectarian massacres.