ABIDJAN – Fears grew for the safety of civilians in this tense economic capital on Thursday as the violent standoff between Ivory Coast’s two rival presidents threatens to degenerate into full-scale civil war. A spokesman for the UN mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI) said on Thursday that 18 people have been killed nationwide in the past week, bringing to 410 the number of fatalities since the end of last year.
Witnesses reported heavy gunfire overnight in several Abidjan districts between troops loyal to strongman Laurent Gbagbo and forces backing Alassane Ouattara, who is internationally recognized as the winner of the disputed November 28 presidential poll.
“There was shooting all night. It was so loud we couldn’t sleep,” said one resident of an area near Port-Bouet 2, a pro-Ouattara enclave in the suburb of Youpougon, a Gbagbo stronghold. Residents also reported shooting late Wednesday in the northern suburb of Adjame and in the residential suburb of Cocody in the east. In a statement, the aid group Doctors without Borders (MSF) warned of serious consequences for the local population as the violence crippled health care services and forced tens of thousands flee their homes.
“Over the course of two weeks, we treated 129 people” in a hospital in the Ouattara stronghold of Abobo, where MSF has stepped in as health workers fled, emergency manager Medo Terzian said . This included “81 with gunshot and knife wounds, ” he added. Tuesday an imam was killed inside his mosque in Port-Bouet 2, according to the executive secretary of the Ivory Coast Superior Council of Imams, Ousmane Diakite.
“After Abobo, it is now the turn of Yopougon to experience the terror of Gbagbo’s clan, especially in Port-Bouet 2,” said a statement from Ouattara’s defense ministry. “Under the pretext of fighting rebels, mortar shells of 60, 81
and 82mm, RPG7 rockets and grenades have been fired in Port-Bouet 2 since Tuesday,” it noted. The International Federation of Human Rights said Wednesday it has received reports of “businesses burned or looted and people abducted from their homes” in Port-Bouet 2.
