Dozens killed as fighting intensifies in Ivory Coast

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Government warplanes attacked French troops in rebel-held northern Ivory Coast on Saturday, killing nine of them and an American relief worker, and sparking a dangerous escalation of violence in the West African country.

The French, former colonial rulers who are helping enforce a 2003 truce that ended a civil war in Ivory Coast, struck back by attacking government aircraft on the ground. Enraged mobs roamed the streets of Abidjan, the country’s main city, searching for French civilians. French schools in Abidjan and the capital, Yamoussoukro, were burned. Some civilians had to be evacuated by helicopter.

Protesters armed with machetes, axes and other weapons also tried to storm a French military base. French forces fired shots in the air and tear gas to control the mob.

French President Jacques Chirac ordered more soldiers and warplanes to the area, and in New York, the U.N. Security Council demanded an immediate end to all military action. It said that peacekeepers – 4,000 French troops and a separate international force of about 6,000 – were authorized to use “all necessary means” to carry out their mandate.

As night fell, there were reports of heavy explosions in the capital city, where both French and Ivorian soldiers are based.

Ivory Coast was one of the region’s success stories until a coup in 1999 and civil war, which erupted in 2000 after a disputed presidential election. Under international pressure, a truce was signed in May 2003 that divided the country into rebel and government-controlled zones. Peacekeepers were deployed, but little was done to consolidate the peace. A power-sharing government failed to take hold.

The two sides began sliding back toward war after they missed an Oct. 15 deadline to disarm. The rebels, known as the New Forces, withdrew from a government of national unity last week.

Government forces have attacked rebel forces in northern Ivory Coast in the past three days, breaking a cease-fire signed in May last year, and vowing to retake the northern part of the country. The African Union strongly condemned the attacks. The U.N. estimated that 22 people were killed on Friday, including 20 civilians.

France is unpopular, particularly among government supporters, for its role in pressing the government to sign the truce and for its current peacekeeping role. The attack that killed the French peacekeepers occurred near Bouake in central Ivory Coast.

French officials said about 20 soldiers who had been wounded in the air attack had been evacuated. The dead American was not immediately identified. The U.S. Embassy warned American citizens throughout the country to stay indoors.

Chirac ordered two extra companies, 300 troops, to reinforce French contingent on the ground in Ivory Coast. Three French Mirage warplanes based in Chad were ordered to Gabon, closer to Ivory Coast.

French troops also clashed with government forces at the Abidjan airport after Ivory Coast forces reportedly tried to attack French aircraft.

As mobs rampaged, a spokesman for Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo called for restraint and urged citizens not to attack French or international citizens, or to destroy their property.

“Pending an investigation into these incidents, the president of the republic has asked that all Ivorian men and women, even if they are angry about what happened, do not attack foreign goods and businesses, and in particular that nobody attack French interests,” presidential spokesman Desire Tagro said.

Military and government officials were quoted by the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies as saying the attack on the French base in northern Ivory Coast was an accident, actually aimed at nearby rebels.

The French air attack destroyed two Sukhoi 25 warplanes and an MI-24 helicopter on the ground at Yamoussoukro.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie warned that the French government held Gbagbo personally responsible for maintaining order in his country. Foreign Minister Michel Barnier demanded firm action from Gbagbo, saying he should “clearly assume his responsibilities and the role that is his to return the country to calm, especially in Abidjan.”

“We must immediately return to the path of peace,” he said.

The aid group, Doctors Without Borders, pulled out some staff in the west of the country Saturday.