Several people died on Thursday when demonstrators calling for President Laurent Gbagbo to step down clashed with security forces in Cote d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, Abidjan, reports said. Reports put the number of dead between four and 20. Journalists reported seeing four bodies in Abidjan, while a spokeswoman for Gbagbo said 10 protesters and 10 members of the security forces had died.
It was unclear if those casualties were in Abidjan or other parts of the country as well. The BBC said clashes had erupted between Rebel New Forces fighters and troops backing Gbagbo near the town of Tiebissou, just south of the ceasefire line agreed in 2003 to end the country’s brief civil war.
Alassane Ouattara, the man that the international community says won last month’s run-off vote in Cote d’Ivoire’s long-delayed presidential election, had called on protesters to take to the streets on Thursday to protest Gbagbo. Gunfire was heard from many parts of the city as demonstrators attempted to make their way to the state-run television downtown. Gbagbo has been using state-run media to spread his claim of legitimacy.
He says the elections were fraudulent, and both he and Ouattara have established rival governments.
Ouattara is holed up at the luxury Golf Hotel in Abidjan’s east and is protected by United Nations peacekeepers. Troops loyal to Gbagbo have positioned themselves outside the hotel.
