At least 80 bodies littered the streets of Abidjan after Ivory Coast forces quelled a fierce coup attempt on Thursday. As the West African nation’s president traveled abroad, insurgents were repelled after hours of heavy gunfire and explosions that left the Cabinet minister in charge of police dead.
Also killed were General Robert Guei, the former junta chief accused of a role in the uprising, and at least 10 rebels and seven paramilitary police. Authorities said loyalist paramilitary police had shot the ex-military leader.
”I can assure you that since six o’clock this morning the army has brought everything under control,” Defence Minister Lida Moise Kouassi declared on state television at mid-afternoon, in its first resumed broadcast after a day of fighting that scattered bloody bodies in the streets of the commercial capital, Abidjan.
”Loyalist forces have come out on top,” President Laurent Gbagbo said in a statement from Rome, where he had been on a state visit.
Gbagbo said he would cut short his trip to return home. Kouassi said Ivory Coast’s armed forces had mobilised nationwide to put down the insurrection. He called it over ”except for pockets of resistance” in the cities of Bouake and Korhogo. Infrastructure Minister Patrick Achy said it appeared the country’s sports minister might still be in the hands of insurgents at Bouake.
Gbagbo’s government has been struggling to calm lingering ethnic and political tension and a restive military since the once-tranquil country’s first-ever coup, in 1999.
Guei, a former army chief, took power amid the 1999 uprising. He was forced out during elections the next year amid allegations he was trying to steal the vote.
Members of the military were believed to be involved in Thursday’s uprising, but it was not clear how many or from what branch of the armed forces. Diplomats said early in the uprising that 700 to 800 soldiers had revolted.
Insurgents launched their attacks about 3 am. (0300), striking homes of the president and ministers of the interior and of defence, military barracks, and other sites across Abidjan.
Interior Minister Emile Boga Doudou was killed, presidential aide Alain Toussaint said in Rome.
Attacks were reported at about the same time in at least three northern and central cities and towns.
The uprising erupted with bursts of automatic-weapons fire outside a paramilitary police base in Abidjan.
About 15 gunmen broke into the compound, killing six paramilitary police officers, a surviving officer said from within the base.
Gunfire and repeated, heavy explosions spread to other parts of the city, including downtown and suburbs. One rocket hit an anti-riot police post, injuring two officers.
Guei, the former junta leader, was killed when loyalist paramilitary police opened fire on his vehicle in downtown Abidjan after the driver refused to stop at a checkpoint, paramilitary police Sergeant Ahossi Aime said.
Guei died at the scene, Aime said. In Rome, Toussaint said it was evident Guei had played a role in the coup attempt. ”Do you think Guei was on the battlefield going shopping?” he asked.
The ex-junta leader’s body lay in a morgue after the uprising, with a single bullet hole in the head.
Outside Abidjan, young men in civilian clothes battled with soldiers cornered inside a military base in the northern city of Korhogo, a stronghold of Ivory Coast’s opposition.
The attackers displayed two bodies they said belonged to a civilian shot in the cross-fire and a paramilitary policeman. Unidentified gunmen also attacked an air base in the central town of Bouake and an army base in the northern town of Fereke, a senior army commander said on condition of anonymity. The military commander in Bouake was killed in the fighting, military officials said. Residents of the central town of Daloa also reported hearing heavy gunfire.
Ivory Coast authorities closed the international airport in Abidjan, and imposed a 6pm to 8am curfew. Most streets were deserted on Thursday afternoon ahead of the curfew,
with only soldiers patrolling. Witnesses said soldiers early on were shooting at motorists who approached roadblocks.
The US and other Western embassies stayed shuttered for the day, and urged their nationals to stay indoors. Schools and many businesses also closed.
Ivory Coast’s standing as one of West Africa’s most stable and prosperous nations was shattered with the December 24, 1999, coup.
The takeover ushered in three years of military uprisings and political and ethnic violence, killing hundreds. The government has vastly built up the weaponry of police and soldiers in a bid to enforce order and mollify restive security forces.
Guei, with a base of loyalists in the west of the country, has been a source of unease amid persistent rumors of more coup attempts in the shaky nation. – Sapa-AP