Gunfire at Ivory Coast barracks
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) -- Unidentified gunmen attacked the two main military barracks in Ivory Coast's largest city on Monday, authorities said as gunfire and heavy explosions shook the area after dawn.
Desire Tagro, a presidential spokesman, said there had been an assault on the two camps at Akuedo in northeastern Abidjan around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT). "There was an assault ... but I don't know who it was at the moment," Tagro told The Associated Press.
Lt. Col. Ange Nouko, an army spokesman, gave a similar account and said it was not known who had launched the assault.
Military officials said they were repelling the attackers. The sound of gunfire and explosions from heavy guns was audible and shook buildings nearby for about one hour.
Ivory Coast has been split between a rebel-held north and a loyalist south since a failed 2002 coup in Abidjan sparked days of fighting in the city.
An official of a security company told Dow Jones Newswires that his agents, patrolling the city, saw heavily armed paramilitary gendarmes taking up positions on a main crossroad near the state television buildings in the residential Cocody neighborhood.
French peacekeepers in the city said they were investigating. "We're trying to find information about it now," said Lt. Col. Jean-Luc Cotard. "Something happened, but I believe it is calm now. Security forces don't seem to be panicking."
On December 1, authorities repelled another brief attack on a paramilitary police camp in Abidjan.
The latest violence was sure to raise tensions in war-divided Ivory Coast. The country has been on edge since President Laurent Gbagbo canceled planned October elections, blaming the war and rebels' failure to disarm.
About 10,000 peacekeepers -- both French and United Nations forces -- are deployed in the war-divided nation.
Desire Tagro, a presidential spokesman, said there had been an assault on the two camps at Akuedo in northeastern Abidjan around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT). "There was an assault ... but I don't know who it was at the moment," Tagro told The Associated Press.
Lt. Col. Ange Nouko, an army spokesman, gave a similar account and said it was not known who had launched the assault.
Military officials said they were repelling the attackers. The sound of gunfire and explosions from heavy guns was audible and shook buildings nearby for about one hour.
Ivory Coast has been split between a rebel-held north and a loyalist south since a failed 2002 coup in Abidjan sparked days of fighting in the city.
An official of a security company told Dow Jones Newswires that his agents, patrolling the city, saw heavily armed paramilitary gendarmes taking up positions on a main crossroad near the state television buildings in the residential Cocody neighborhood.
French peacekeepers in the city said they were investigating. "We're trying to find information about it now," said Lt. Col. Jean-Luc Cotard. "Something happened, but I believe it is calm now. Security forces don't seem to be panicking."
On December 1, authorities repelled another brief attack on a paramilitary police camp in Abidjan.
The latest violence was sure to raise tensions in war-divided Ivory Coast. The country has been on edge since President Laurent Gbagbo canceled planned October elections, blaming the war and rebels' failure to disarm.
About 10,000 peacekeepers -- both French and United Nations forces -- are deployed in the war-divided nation.
posted by Marko at 1/02/2006 12:27:00 PM
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