MORONI, March 24: The president of the Comoros archipelago authorised an African Union-backed assault on rebel Anjouan island on Sunday sending helicopters to drop leaflets that warned residents to stay at home.

“In the hours, or the days to come, Anjouan will be liberated by force, or, I dare to hope, the rebels will surrender themselves in order to avoid confrontation,” President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi told the nation in a live address.

Some boats were on their way to the tropical, hilly Anjouan from nearby Moheli island, a military source said.

With 1,350 AU troops in support, the national government of the coup-prone Indian Ocean nation hopes a landing on Anjouan will quickly topple its local leader, French-trained former gendarme Mohamed Bacar, who clung to power in an illegal election last year.—Reuters