Reports from Somalia suggest French commandos have mounted an operation against a militant base in a bid to free a French hostage.
Witnesses in Bulo Marer said they had heard a helicopter above the southern town before explosions and gunfire.
Al-Shabab militants are believed to be holding a French person hostage.
An al-Shabab spokesman told AFP news agency "several" French soldiers had been killed, in a claim which could not be confirmed independently
- BBC
