In Ivory Coast, the Great Cost of Conflict
01 April 2011
Unidentified troops in the city of Abidjan Friday
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Ivory Coast gained independence from France in nineteen sixty. It grew into one of the wealthiest countries in West Africa through cocoa exports and foreign investments.
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But its latest political crisis has come at great cost. The United Nations says several hundred people have been killed since early December. As many as one million have fled their homes, mostly in Abidjan, the main city. Some have fled west to Liberia or east to Ghana.
On Friday, the UN human rights office expressed concern about unconfirmed reports of kidnapping and abuse of civilians by fighters loyal to Alassane Ouattara. He is the internationally recognized winner of the presidential election last year. But President Laurent Gbagbo refuses to accept the results.
A UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, said most of the reports were from western Ivory Coast.
RUPERT COLVILLE: "Initially, most of the abuses, if not all the abuses, were by the forces in support of Laurent Gbagbo, former president. But recently there's been an increase of retaliatory attacks by people on the other side, including a slightly mysterious group called the Invisible Commandos who've been operating against Gbagbo."
The International Committee of the Red Cross said civilians trapped by the fighting have been unable to get food, water or medicine. The Red Cross has appealed for an additional sixteen million dollars to help people entering Liberia.
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