France has air-dropped weapons to rebels fighting Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops in Western Libya, the French military has confirmed. Light arms and ammunition were sent to Berber tribal fighters in the Nafusa mountains in early June, it said. Earlier, a report in Le Figaro newspaper said the arms included rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles. France, a leading force in the Nato operation in Libya, did not inform its allies about the move, Le Figaro said. "We began by dropping humanitarian aid: food, water and medical supplies," said Col Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French general staff. "During the operation, the situation for the civilians on the ground worsened. We dropped arms and means of self-defence, mainly ammunition," he told AFP. He said the arms were "light infantry weapons of the rifle type", dropped over a period of several days "so that civilians would not be massacred". The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says the statement is likely to bring further criticism from the likes of Russia and China, who believe Nato and its allies have already gone beyond the remit of the UN resolution authorising international military action in Libya for the protection of civilians. France played a prominent role in pushing for military intervention in Libya, and French and British planes have led the air strikes over the country that began in late March. The decision to drop arms to the Libyan rebels was reportedly taken following a meeting in mid-April between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Chief of Staff of the Libyan rebels, Gen Abdelfatah Younis. Source: BBC