Abidjan (Ivory Coast): Gunfire erupted in
Ivory Coast's main city this morning just blocks from the
presidential palace, as fighters loyal to the internationally
recognised president sought to remove the incumbent who
refuses to cede power.
A journalist heard gunfire and explosions this
morning about two city blocks from Laurent Gbagbo's
presidential palace in Abidjan.
Rebels loyal to internationally recognised president
Alassane Ouattara made a lightning advance through the country
this week, seizing the administrative capital on Wednesday
before heading to Abidjan, the country's largest city.
The push has been led by a northern rebel group that
is allied with Ouattara.
Officials with the International Committee of the Red
Cross on Saturday said more than 800 people were killed in
inter-communal violence in a western town that had been taken
by the rebel group.
Red Cross spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said the
violence likely erupted on Tuesday, the day after the town was
taken by the fighters. It is not clear what prompted the
killings and whether the armed group was involved.
Krimitsas said Red Cross teams were there Friday and
saw a "huge number of bodies."
PTI
First Published: Saturday, April 02, 2011, 17:39