Ivory Coast Attack Kills Six, including Two Soldiers
At least six people, including two soldiers, were killed when an armed gang attacked a village in strife-prone western Ivory Coast, an officer of the Republican Army (FRCI) said Thursday.
"An attack against the village of Zilebly overnight on Tuesday led to the death of six people, including two members of the FRCI," the officer said, asking not to be be named.
A local journalist said two soldiers and six civilians died. Both he and the army officer blamed assailants from Liberia, which lies just three kilometers (two miles) from the village.
"Calm is restored, but thousands of people have fled the area to take refuge in the nearby towns of Blolequin and Toulepleu," said the journalist, who went to the scene.
For years subject to serious tensions caused notably by land disputes, western Ivory Coast became the most violent region during the post-election crisis of 2010-2011, which claimed about 3,000 lives across the country.
After the crisis -- which was caused by the refusal of former president Laurent Gbagbo to admit an election defeat at the hands of Alassane Ouattara -- the west of Ivory Coast was targeted by armed groups based in eastern Liberia.
In one of these raids, seven U.N. peacekeepers were killed in June 2012.
Ouattara's government has accused armed exiles faithful to the ousted Gbagbo of carrying out attacks, but the former leader's supporters deny any involvement. Gbagbo himself is now behind bars at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, facing charges of crimes against humanity.
In the light of the bloodshed, Ivory Coast and Liberia strengthened their cooperation to tighten border security, with the aid of U.N. forces present in both countries. For several months, calm was re-established.
Security and national reconciliation remain priority challenges for Ouattara's regime, in the west as well as in the economic capital Abidjan, where attacks took place against the security forces and strategic sites in the second half of 2012.
Source: Agence France Presse
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