A French soldier has been killed in Somalia during a failed operation to free a hostage who is also believed to have died, the defence minister said.
Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in Paris that a second soldier was missing after the operation.
A battle erupted with al-Shabab militants after commandos swooped on the town of Bulo Marer overnight.
The raid in east Africa came hours after French troops intervened in the west African state of Mali.
France was "engaged in a merciless fight against terrorism wherever it is found", Mr Le Drian said.
It seems likely that the operation was linked to the intervention in Mali, the BBC's Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.
The French government knew well the intervention would have dangerous implications for the nine French hostages being held across northern Africa, our correspondent says.
BodiesMr Le Drian said "all the indications" were that hostage Denis Alex, kidnapped in Somalia in July 2009, had been killed during the operation.
Al-Shabab says Mr Allex was not in the area and was unharmed.
End Quote Idris Youssouf Bulo Marer residentThis morning we saw several corpses including that of a white man"
Earlier, the French defence ministry said Mr Alex had been killed by his captors.
It also said that two French soldiers had died in the fighting, along with 17 militants in the town in the lower Shebelle region.
"Faced with the intransigence of the terrorists, who refused to negotiate for three and and half years and who were holding Denis Alex in inhumane conditions, an operation was planned and carried out," the ministry said.
"During the assault, violent combat took place."
In a statement, al-Shabab reported a "fierce firelight" that lasted 45 minutes.
Giving no details of its own casualties, the group said it had killed "several" French soldiers and had captured an injured soldier.
Mr Alex, it said, was "safe and far from the location of the battle". An announcement about his fate would be made within two days, the group said, promising "bitter consequences" for the French government.
Eyewitnesses in the town heard fighting during the night, then saw bodies this morning. Up to four helicopters were involved in the operation, they said.
Mohamed Ali, a resident of Bolo Mirer, told AP news agency by phone: "We heard a series of explosions followed by gunfire just seconds after a helicopter flew over the town.
"We don't know exactly what happened but the place was an al-Shabab base and checkpoint."
Another resident of the town, Iris Youssouf, told AFP that details were sketchy because the attack had happened at night.
"But this morning we saw several corpses including that of a white man," he added.
He said three civilians had also died in the fighting.
Hostage appealOf the other French hostages, at least six are being held by the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb group, AFP reports.
Mr Allex, an agent of France's DGSE intelligence service, appeared in a video in June 2010, appealing to France to drop its support for the Somali government.
He last appeared in another video in October, looking gaunt and calling on French President Francois Hollande to work for his release.
Somalia has not had an effective central government for more than two decades.
France has a large military base in neighbouring Djibouti, including army, marine and air force units.
On Friday, President Hollande announced that French forces were supporting an offensive by the Malian government to regain territory captured by Islamist militants in the north.
It was confirmed that French jets had made air strikes as Islamist rebels were forced out of the town of Konna.
Mr Le Drian said a French pilot was killed in the fighting.
Mr Hollande said Islamists had been trying to turn Mali into a "terrorist" state and the French intervention complied with international law and had been agreed with Malian interim President Dioncounda Traore.
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