New Caledonia Strife Continues; 2 Teen-Agers Slain

Melanesian rebels and French police battled at a barracks Monday, and two teen-agers were killed--the first civilian casualties in a wave of election-related violence.

Julienne Akaro, an 18-year-old Melanesian girl, died in the east coast town of Canala when police, besieged in their barracks by militant Melanesians, tried to shoot their way out, witnesses said. Akaro, a bystander, was caught in the cross fire.

A 17-year-old boy of mixed race, shot Monday afternoon in the west coast town of Houaylou, died early today, police said.

Meanwhile, in Paris, President Francois Mitterrand asked that results for the first-round French presidential vote in New Caledonia be annulled, but his opponent for the presidency, Premier Jacques Chirac, dismissed the move as “a rather shabby trick.”

Mitterrand, who picked up less than 5% of the vote in the islands, compared to Chirac’s 74.7%--said that violence had forced several polling stations to close and that his agents had not been able to check the regularity of the vote.

Bernard Pons, France’s minister for overseas territories, arrived in the South Pacific island group Monday and said authorities will use whatever force is necessary to end the violence.

The Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front, which seeks to create an independent Melanesian state, called Pons’ statement a “declaration of colonial war.”

French soldiers continued to search for 16 police officers held hostage by Melanesian tribesmen since Friday.