PARIS --
France acknowledged Tuesday that its troops killed about 20 people, including civilians, during November clashes in Ivory Coast but insisted its soldiers had only acted in self-defense.
Officials in the former French colony have said at least 60 Ivory Coast citizens were killed -- either by gunfire or stampedes -- when French troops and helicopters shot into crowds.
The death estimate, which covers the period Nov. 6-9, was the first by authorities in Paris since French troops took action in the West African nation's commercial capital, Abidjan, and elsewhere to put down anti-foreigner rampages.
Defense Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said the estimated 20 victims died as the result "of legitimate defense" in which French troops were left with "no alternatives."
The estimate was based on reports from military officers on the ground and soldiers involved in the clashes. The dead included both Ivory Coast civilians and Ivory Coast police, military police and customs agents, Bureau said.
He did not specify the number of Ivory Coast citizens injured. He said 80 French soldiers were wounded seriously enough to be returned to France for treatment.
Bureau confirmed that the deaths were a result of French gunfire, but said troops also used "on numerous occasions non-lethal weapons to protect themselves," including tear gas grenades.
France, Ivory Coast's former colonial ruler, destroyed the country's air force in retaliation for a Nov. 6 airstrike that killed nine French peacekeepers and an American. Massive anti-French and anti-foreigner riots ensued, and about 9,000 foreigners fled the country.
French troops killed an estimated seven or eight people in clashes when thousands of protesters descended on Abidjan's airport Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, Bureau said.
Eight or nine other people were thought to have been killed at Duekoue, in west Ivory Coast, when French troops trying to make their way to Abidjan on Nov. 7 opened fire to protect their armored vehicle from assault, said Bureau.
Others were killed in front of the Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan when French troops twice opened fire on Nov. 9, he said.
French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said French forces would not hesitate to use force again in case of "attacks or threats" against foreigners in Ivory Coast.
"We will assume our responsibilities -- exactly in the same way as we have before," she told France-2 TV. About 5,000 French troops are in Ivory Coast under a United Nations mandate.
The U.N. Security Council placed an arms embargo on Ivory Coast and warned of more punitive sanctions unless the government revives peace efforts with northern rebels.