Two men killed in police operation in New Caledonia

The incident took place on Thursday in Saint Louis, a stronghold of the independence movement south of Noumea, as police searched for about a dozen people suspected of involvement in armed robbery and attacks on security forces, the statement said.

A gendarme opened fire after security forces were threatened by a group of armed individuals, killing two of them, it said.

The pro-independence FLNKS said the two were Kanaks.

Kanaks fear the reform would dilute their vote and make it harder for any future referendum on independence to pass, while Paris has said the measure was needed to improve democracy by allowing more residents from France to vote.

In June, President Emmanuel Macron suspended the reform plan but violence has persisted in the territory, a major nickel producer.