Abidjan, Nov. 6 (Reuters): Ivory Coast warplanes mistakenly bombed a French base in the rebel-held north today, killing eight French soldiers and one US citizen and wounding 23, sharply escalating tensions in the world?s top cocoa producer.

The French military retaliated by destroying the two Ivorian Sukhoi fighter jets when they returned to the airport in the capital Yamoussoukro, military officials said. Hours later Ivorian forces clashed with French troops at the airport of the main city Abidjan, Ivorian and French officials said.

The fighting between French and Ivorian forces erupted on the third day of a government aerial bombardment to pave the way for a ground offensive to retake rebel positions in the north.

French President Jacques Chirac ordered the destruction of Ivorian planes today, his office said.

?The President of the republic ordered the immediate destruction of the Ivorian military aircraft used in recent days in violation of the ceasefire,? his office said.

In a separate statement, the foreign ministry said France had informed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan of its response. It also said it was informing members of the UN Security Council.

An Ivorian military source at the airport said two Ivorian soldiers had been wounded in the clash. ?In the centre of the Ivory Coast, a (French) camp was bombarded by two Sukhoi 25 (planes), and in response to this attack two aircraft have been destroyed,? French defence ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said in Paris.

?For the moment we have counted eight dead, French soldiers, and 23 injured,? he said. An Ivorian army officer said the air strike on the French base was a ?mistake? and that the warplanes had meant to target a rebel position nearby. French troops fired teargas to disperse pro-government supporters who gathered outside their base in the main city of Abidjan to protest at the destruction of the aircraft.

The government bombing raids were the first major hostilities since a truce signed in May last year ended fighting which had killed thousands. Ivorian army officers have said a land invasion would follow the air raids to chase out the rebels who have controlled the north since the war that followed their failed attempt to oust President Gbagbo in September 2002.

Some 10,000 French and UN soldiers police the buffer zone around a ceasefire line that cuts a swathe across the country and separates the rebels from the government-run south.