Riff Tribe Strongly Entrenched and With Excellent Artillery, Well Directed: European Gunners Believed to Be Directing Their Fire Paris, May 7.
A message from Rabat states that the number of casualties in Colonel Freydenberg's force in_tho recent fighting against the Riffs was 13 killed, mostly natives, and 100. wounded.
Water in the form of ice-blocks was conveyed by aeroplanes to four 'oF five French posts in the besieged district of Biban.
May 8.
Reports to hand are to the effect that Colonel Freydenburg's success:
Morocco have only partially allayed growing apprehensions that a big campaign lies ahead of the French forces.
General Colombat, with a column lof troops, has arrived before Bibane, Jand has encountered large numbers lof solidly organized Riffs, occupyig successive lines of trenches and jeovered by remarkably accurate artillery fire. This is a feature of with the Riffs hitherto un-! known, and in Morocco it is being suggested that Europeans are working the native guns.
'The latest news indicates that' the French have stemmed the enemy Jadvance, though a number of French ests are still besieged.
Later.
The "Matin" says that Abdel /Krim's surprise attack on the French zone was made with a semi-modern army equipped with quick firing guns, about 60 heavy guns, few tanks and half-a-dozen aero: planes. The objective was to cut the Fez-Tazze railway and then to rouse the subject tribes against the French, A successful surprise attack is no longer possible in consequence of the hurrying of reinforcements from Algeria. The work of relieving the French' position will egntinue methodically, The French counter offensive, however, will not extend beyond the French zone—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.