MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A raid to free a French intelligence agent held captive in Somalia for three years went horribly wrong, leaving 17 Islamists and at least one French commando dead in a mud-caked farming town deep in militant territory.

In the chaotic aftermath of the firefight, the hostage’s fate was unclear Saturday. The Islamists denied French claims that he was killed and said they had a new prisoner — a wounded French soldier.

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