A pro-government mob was laying siege to a French military base in Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital on Monday, and French forces were firing tear gas and rounds to try to break up the crowd.
French soldiers, in Côte d’Ivoire to enforce a ceasefire in the former French colony, left the base in armoured personnel carriers to confront the 250-strong, rock-throwing mob.
Shots could be heard from the base, but it was not clear whether they were rubber bullets or live rounds. White fumes rose from tear gas fired by the French, and black smoke billowed from a roadblock of burning metal drums set afire at the base gates by the loyalist young men.
About 4 000 French and 1 200 West African peacekeepers are in Côte d’Ivoire to hold ceasefire lines, keeping the peace between northern-based rebels and the southern-based government after a nine-month civil war.
The war was declared over in January, but tensions have remained high.
Hard-core government loyalists increasingly are insisting that the French clear a buffer zone between north and south to allow government forces to attack the rebels again.
On Sunday, Côte d’Ivoire soldiers briefly seized control of Côte d’Ivoire’s state television headquarters, broadcasting demands that French and West African peacekeepers leave so armed forces can attack the rebels in coming days.
Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer and a West African economic hub, stood for decades as one of the region’s most prosperous countries until a 1999 coup. Ethnic and political tensions unleashed by the coup have ravaged the country ever since, leading to repeated coup attempts and uprisings. — Sapa-AP