Ivory Coast: May 6, 2003

Archives

West African peacekeepers played down reports of fresh skirmishes, noting that it takes time for all of the remote groups to get the word about the new ceasefire and the Ivorian army was unaware of any fresh fighting.

A rebel spokesman said that government troops and foreign mercenaries attacked rebel positions in the villages near the country's western border with Liberia. The army spokesman was unaware of any fighting, counterclaiming that they had held those towns for so long that if there was fighting there, they must be attacking us. Rebel allegations couldn't be independently verified from the towns. 

The rebels claim to have shown their commitment to peace by forcing their former foreign comrades back to Liberia. They are now demanding that the government must now get rid of their own allies, although the army has consistently denied having any Liberians on its side at all. 

The government contends that renegade fighters still roam the lawless frontier. Officials claim that a joint military operation (including both the army and rebels, as well as French and West African peacekeepers) will soon be deployed to western Ivory Coast to enforce the cease-fire. - Adam Geibel

 

Article Archive

Ivory Coast: Current 2012 2011 2010 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close