IVORY COAST: Bodies of slain U.N. peacekeepers arrive in Abidjan

Record ID: 182203

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Bodies of slain U.N. peacekeepers arrive in Abidjan
  • Date: 10th June 2012
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (JUNE 9, 2012) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS PLANE STANDING ON TARMAC WITH HEARSE NEXT TO PLANE AND U.N. SOLDIERS SOLDIERS LOOKING ON INTERIOR OF PLANE WITH BODIES IN PLASTIC BAGS VARIOUS OF U.N. SOLDIERS PLACING A BODY IN BODY BAG ON A STRETCHER IN THE PLANE VARIOUS OF MEN LIFTING BODY OUT OF PLANE AND PLACING IT IN HEARSE, NIGERIAN U.N. OFFICER LOOKING ON HEARSE DRIVING OFF, WRITING ON HANGAR READING IN FRENCH "ABIDJAN AIR BASE" VARIOUS OF U.N. SOLDIERS AT AIRPORT VARIOUS MORE OF U.N. SOLDIERS LIFTING BODY BAGS OUT OF PLANE AND PLACING THEM IN HEARSE U.N. SOLDIERS FROM NIGER LOOKING ON VARIOUS OF U.N. PICK-UP TRUCK, SOLDIERS ON THE BACK MANNING WEAPON VARIOUS OF CONVOY OF VEHICLES FROM UNDERTAKERS IVOSEP, SOLDIERS N U.N. PICK-UP TRUCK DRIVING OFF AIRBASE, CONVOY OF HEARSES FOLLOWING BEHIND VARIOUS OF U.N. SOLDIERS AT PREMISES OF IVOSEP UNDERTAKERS, TALKING VARIOUS OF CONVOY WITH HEARSES ARRIVING AT IVOSEP PREMISES
  • Embargoed: 25th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Crime,Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6BLKYAONYVMLTKL8J5VPFHMEI
  • Story Text: Gunmen who killed seven United Nations peacekeepers, eight civilians and at least one soldier in Ivory Coast came from neighbouring Liberia, the Ivorian defence minister said on Saturday (June 9) as the bodies of the slain soldiers were brought to Abidjan.
    The peacekeepers were killed in an ambush as they were responding to a suspected raid on a village 45 km south of the town of Tai, close to the border with Liberia.
    The bodies were brought to Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan in a United Nations plane and were taken to Abidjan's funeral undertaker company IVOSEP in Abidjan.
    The attack highlights simmering tensions and security threats in the west of the world's top cocoa grower despite a year of progress that stabilised much of the rest of the country after months of post-election violence last year.
    Liberia's government said it would issue a statement later in the day but the United Nations said it was reshuffling some of its several thousand troops deployed in the zone to protect civilians in the border area.
    Ivory Coast and Liberia have good relations and have in the past carried out joint patrols with U.N. peacekeepers along their border.
    Alassane Ouattara won a 2010 election but only came to power following months of violence that killed thousands after incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede.
    New York-based Human Rights Watch warned earlier this week that Liberian mercenaries and Ivorian fighters who fought on behalf of Gbagbo in the brief civil war last year were launching attacks on Ivory Coast from Liberia.
    The campaigning group said the militants behind the raids, which have killed 40 people since last July, were receiving funds from supporters of Gbagbo - who is awaiting trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over his role in the civil war.
    Liberia has denied accusations it is not doing enough to prevent the attacks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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