ABIDJAN: Violence in western Ivory Coast during Sunday’s second round of presidential elections has killed three people, the UN envoy to the divided west African country, Youn-jin Choi, said Monday.
The previous toll, given on Sunday by the government, was two dead, and the authorities blamed Dozo traditional hunters.
“We have confirmed three deaths yesterday in the west,” Choi told a press conference, without giving details of “this violence, these troubles,” which he said were “somewhat localised.”
“In spite of sometimes violent incidents in the west and the north of the country,” the second round pitting incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo against former prime minister Alassane Ouattara “took place overall in a democratic climate,” Choi said.
The UN toll brought to at least seven dead the number of victims of unrest in recent days in Ivory Coast, where tension rose as polling day approached.
The ministry of the interior on Sunday night reported that a soldier and a civilian had been killed in the western Daloa region, in circumstances that remained very unclear.
A government statement said members of the Dozo community, close to former rebels of the New Forces (FN), “opened fire on troops and civilians,” killing two people.
One of the goals of the election is to install a government that will bring about the reunification of the cocoa-rich country, where Gbagbo survived a coup in 2002 but the New Forces took control of the north.
Both the regular army and FN troops were deployed to provide security on polling day.
