Violent clash reported at uranium plant

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BAKOUMA, Central African Republic, June 26 (UPI) -- Rebels were believed to be responsible for an attack on a uranium plant in the Central African Republic, a military source told Radio France Internationale.

A military statement said Central African troops were involved in a "violent clash" in Bakouma Sunday afternoon against "an unidentified group of armed men attempting to launch an assault" on the plant operated by French nuclear giant Areva, RFI reported.

The military statement said "we sustained no losses either among personnel or the population of Bakouma."

A military source in Bangui said the raid claimed no victims but operations had begun to "neutralize this group of armed men," believed to be members of the Chadian rebel Popular Front for Recovery.

The attackers took a "sizable quantity mainly of food with them," the military statement said.

The rebel group has been active in the Central African Republic since 2008, RFI said.

In January, the Central African army attacked rebel positions in the north of the county and announced it had contained the rebels.