Supporters of Rival Ivorian Presidents Fight Near Liberian Border

March 28, 2011

A man known as Commander Bauer, the chief of a group of pro-Ouattara fighters, walks with his men in northern Abidjan's Abobo district March 26, 2011

Soldiers loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo are fighting rebels who back the United-Nations-certified winner of November's vote, Laurent Gbagbo .

Both sides say Monday's fighting began before dawn as they battled for control of the town of Duekoue in western Ivory Coast. Pro-Ouattara rebels say they have captured the town. Gbagbo troops say it has not yet fallen.

Duekoue is an important transportation hub linking the port of San Pedro and the capital Yamoussoukro with Guinea and Liberia. Pro-Ouattara rebels first attacked the town last month as they continue to push farther south along the Liberian border into areas that have been under control of the Gbagbo government since a brief civil war in 2002.

Violence also continues in the commercial capital Abidjan, where pro-Ouattara militia now control much of the neighborhood of Abobo. Those fighters are led by a man who calls himself Colonel Bauer, who said Gbagbo is blocking democracy.

Bauer said that since Gbagbo came to power, peace has slipped farther and farther away from the Ivorian people, so that is why they are fighting.

November's presidential election was meant to reunite the country. But the dispute over who won has led to more violence. The United Nations certified results announced by the electoral commission that show Ouattara as the winner. Gbagbo said he was re-elected when the Constitutional Council nullified nearly 10 percent of the ballots cast, proclaiming them fraudulent.