- Title: IVORY COAST: Ivory Coast government repels attacks on army bases
- Date: 2nd January 2006
- Summary: BULLET SHELLS ON GROUND / GROUP OF SOLDIERS STANDING IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 17th January 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVA68P8ABLU1ZMWKWFN6EVC3O9K3
- Story Text: Heavily armed men attacked two military bases in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan on Monday (January 2), briefly seizing one before government forces recaptured it and restored control, officials said.
Residents woke to the sound of intense automatic rifle fire and detonations of heavier arms as fighting raged at two camps in the eastern Akouedo district of the lagoon city, the trading hub of the West African country, divided since a 2002 civil war.
Reuters reporters saw seven bodies near the two camps, four wearing civilian clothes and three in military uniform. There were also burned-out vehicles and two prisoners, bloodied with their hands tied.
The government did not immediately say who carried out the attacks, which occurred days after new Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny named a cabinet to advance a U.N. peace plan for the world's top cocoa grower.
New Force rebels, who have occupied the north of the country since 2002, denied responsibility for the raids, which temporarily disrupted cocoa exports in the southern port city.
Military officers said the attackers, armed with automatic rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, briefly took over the Basa anti-aircraft artillery base, one of two bases at Akouedo. They were later dislodged by government troops and police backed by armoured vehicles.
Helicopters of the French armed forces, which work with a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast, flew over the area. French consular officials urged French nationals in the city to stay at home.
Some diplomats and military sources initially suggested the attackers might be mutinous soldiers, but local officers ruled that out and described them as "outside elements".
At the beginning of last month, a group of unidentified gunmen attacked a police barracks in Abidjan, but were repelled after a short gun battle.
Under a U.N. peace plan, a process of disarmament and national reunification will precede elections in October. The U.N. blueprint allowed Gbagbo to remain in office beyond the October 30 end of his five-year mandate. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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