Côte d’Ivoire’s Alassane Ouattara said his fighters were “at the gates” of Abidjan on Thursday after a rapid advance aimed at unseating his rival Laurent Gbagbo.
Soon after, heavy weapons fire rang out in the centre of Abidjan, the West African country’s main city, and Gbagbo’s elite forces took positions around the presidential palace, Reuters witnesses said.
“I call on you to serve your country … It is time to join your brothers in the Republican Forces,” Ouattara said in a statement on his television station on Thursday, saying his soldiers were “at the gates” of Abidjan.
Ouattara’s prime minister, Guillaume Soro, told Reuters that Gbagbo had only two or three hours left in power and the “game is over”.
Gbagbo has refused to step down after a November election that United Nations-certified results showed he lost, triggering a bloody stand-off that has killed hundreds and rekindled the country’s 2002-3 civil war.
French troops stationed in the former French colony deployed around parts of Abidjan, after what one diplomatic source said were attacks on French nationals by pro-Gbagbo mobs. French military officials declined comment.
In a dramatic four-day sweep, Pro-Ouattara forces have taken the key cocoa port of San Pedro and the official capital Yamoussoukro after advancing over hundreds of kilometres since the start of the week.
South Africa’s government said on Thursday that Gbagbo’s army chief of staff, General Phillippe Mangou, had sought refuge at its ambassador’s residence in Abidjan, in one of the biggest blows yet to Gbagbo’s grip on power.
Pro-Ouattara forces on Thursday afternoon were seen by residents pushing towards the Abidjan neighbourhood of Cocody, where state television is based and Gbagbo has his main residence. UN helicopter gunships flew over the city.
French armoured vehicles were also seen rolling along streets in the centre of town, near the presidential palace.
Gbagbo has resisted pressure from the African Union and the West to step down since the November poll, and has been the target of sanctions by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations.
Cocoa prices have tumbled since the push began. The capture of San Pedro, which ships half of the top grower’s beans, could, in theory, mean a resumption in exports that have been virtually frozen by the crisis since late January.
Diplomats said on Thursday that European Union sanctions, including an embargo on cocoa shipments from San Pedro, would remain in place and if any exemption were discussed it would take four or five days to come into force.
Pro-Ouattara forces have pushed down towards Abidjan from the north-west and the north-east, and have so far met with little resistance as Gbagbo’s regular army either withdraws or switches sides.
But, should Gbagbo decide to put up a fight, Ouattara’s forces risk becoming bogged down in bloody urban warfare in Abidjan, where pro-Gbagbo forces have retreated to and his youth supporters have sought to join the army.
West Africans slaughtered
At least 472 people have been confirmed killed since the stand-off began, according to the United Nations, and a humanitarian crisis is worsening, with a million people displaced from the commercial capital Abidjan alone.
But the real figure is likely to be much higher.
“Casualty numbers, killed and injured, is running into the thousands. That is our indication,” Pierre Kraehenbuehl, the International Committee of the Red Cross director of operations, told a news conference in Geneva.
Ivorian state media have said the rebels are foreigners from neighbouring West African states, prompting many killings.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said it had documented the killing of 37 West African immigrants by pro-Gbagbo militia in a village in Côte d’Ivoire’s west on March 22 alone, warning that crimes against humanity may have been committed.
Thousands of people have sought shelter in churches and public buildings and at least 112 000 have crossed into Liberia to the west.
The UN Security Council overnight imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Gbagbo, who is already under European Union and US sanctions. The resolution also sought to prevent use of heavy weapons in Abidjan.
In a sign violence could spin out of control, the army called on Gbagbo’s often violent youth wing to enlist in the military. They have been fired up with anti-French, anti-foreigner and anti-UN propaganda, and on Wednesday the army started openly handing out weapons to them.
“Militarily, I think it is over. But I don’t think the situation is totally under control as there is likely to be lots of pillaging,” a security source said, asking not to be named. – Reuters