ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Ivory Coast incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo stepped up a counter-attack on presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara yesterday by firing on his hotel headquarters in Abidjan.
Rebel forces seeking to install Ouattara, who won an election last November according to results certified by the United Nations, swept from the north to the economic capital Abidjan almost unopposed more than a week ago.
But despite a fierce rebel onslaught, Gbagbo’s soldiers have held onto swathes of the city, and are now growing bolder.
A UN spokesman in Abidjan said the attack on the Golf Hotel, which Ouattara has made his base since the election, involved heavy weapons that appeared to have been fired from Gbagbo’s heavily defended residence.
“This was not a fight, but a direct attack by Gbagbo’s forces, who fired RPGs and mortar rounds, from positions near Gbagbo’s residence, at the Golf Hotel,” said UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure.
He said one UN peacekeeper had been hurt, and that UN forces had responded by firing on those positions.
Mariam Konate, a resident of the area near the hotel, said: “There was fierce fighting with heavy weapons and our houses shook, even some windows shattered. We’re all locked in our homes, but things quietened down about an hour ago.”
French soldiers supporting the UN mission in Ivory Coast and backing Ouattara’s claim to the presidency secured Abidjan’s port yesterday, but said the central neighbourhoods of Cocody and Plateau were still being fought over.
