Cote d'Ivoire's Army Enters Rebel Stronghold

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Cote d'Ivoire's Army Enters Rebel Stronghold

The government troops of Cote d'Ivoire announced Tuesday that they had entered the rebel-controlled Bouake after launching an attack Monday against mutineers holding the strategic central city.

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The government troops of Cote d'Ivoire announced Tuesday that they had entered the rebel-controlled Bouake after launching an attack Monday against mutineers holding the strategic central city.

Local radio reported that the government forces gained the ground after they engaged in fierce battles with the rebel soldiers in the country's second largest city, 400 km north of Abidjan.

"Our people have gone into Bouake since Monday, a military spokesman told the state-run Radio.

Bouake and Korhogo, the key northern city en route to the border with Burkina Faso, had been in rebel hands since the breakout of bloody coup last Thursday while other important towns heading north are also under rebel control.

There are thought to be about 600 French and 300 Americans caught up in the bloody military uprising in the central town of Bouake.

But the radio quoted residents of Bouake as saying that the city was still held at least partly by rebel troops.

Residents said they heard intense barrage of gunfire with heavy weapons and automatic arms firing overnight, but firing had died down by morning.

The rebels said they are protesting at the government's plans to retire them from the army against their will. The government has accused them of trying to stage a coup.

On Sunday, President Laurent Gbagbo and ministers said the government was ready to talk to the rebels in Bouake and examine their grievances if they laid down their arms.

French military reinforcements, who flew into Abidjan early Sunday, were heading north on standby to protect French citizens and other foreign nationals. The French troops, with armored vehicles and helicopters, had set up a base overnight at Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire's administrative capital, 100 km south of Bouake.

In Korhogo, residents said mutineers are requisitioning private vehicles and have taken leading officials hostage. The government said they are preparing to retake it all.

Cote d'Ivoire has seen brutal fighting in what President Laurent Gbagbo's government is describing as a failed coup by mutinous troops.

The failed coup attempt has claimed hundreds of lives and left many injured in the cocoa-producing country. Former military ruler General Robert Guei who was accused of being behind the coup, and Interior Minister Emile Boga Doudou were confirmed killed during the bloodshed.

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