Fighters backing Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara streamed into the main city Abidjan on Monday in what they called a "final assault" to remove Laurent Gbagbo from his stronghold. Gunfire rang out across the city and explosions and firing could be heard from the direction of the Presidential Palace, Reuters witnesses said.
Two UN attack helicopters fired missiles at one of Gbagbo's military bases, causing a blast that shook homes and smashed windows, witnesses said. France said its troops were supporting the UN peacekeeping force at UN request. Several thousand pro-Ouattara fighters entered Abidjan from the north in a convoy of transporters, pick-ups mounted with heavy machineguns, and 4x4s loaded with fighters bearing Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers, Reuters witnesses said.
Their commanding officer, Issiaka "Wattao" Ouattara, told Reuters he had 4,000 men with him plus another 5,000 already in the city. Asked how long he would need to take Abidjan, Wattao said: "We'll know when it starts, but it could take 48 hours to properly clear (the city)." Gbagbo has refused to cede power after an election last November that UN-certified results showed Ouattara won. Gbagbo rejected the results and accused the United Nations of bias. The stand-off that followed has now turned into a resumption of the civil war of 2002-03.
After swiftly taking control of most of the country, pro-Ouattara forces have met fierce resistance in Abidjan, where Gbagbo's troops are holding on to positions around the presidential palace, Gbagbo's residence and state television. After several days of fighting in Abidjan, nervous citizens who had been trapped in their homes by the fighting ventured out early on Monday morning to get food and water.
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