Ivory Coast's Prime Minister Guillaume Soro escaped unhurt when his plane was hit by a rocket on arrival at the rebel stronghold of Bouake on Friday, but three others were killed, witnesses said.
Soro, head of the New Forces rebels who seized the north of the West African country during the 2002-2003 civil war, became prime minister in April after signing a peace deal with President Laurent Gbagbo to guide the country to elections. "There was an explosion and it was panic.
The plane had just landed and we waited until the plane came to a stop. We tried to calm people down until the plane stopped," a New Forces administrative assistant who was on board told Reuters. "Those who fired must have been in the bush. I didn't see anyone. I don't know if anyone saw them," the assistant, who declined to be identified, said by phone from Bouake hospital, where he was being treated for an injury to his arm.
Allan Aliali, a journalist for Gbagbo's party newspaper Notre Voie, who was also on board the plane, told UN radio he had seen three bodies in Soro's cabin in the plane, but could not identify them.
A Reuters reporter later saw Soro arrive unharmed at the rebels' headquarters in Bouake, although other members of his entourage had visible injuries. Some more seriously wounded people were taken to the city's hospital for treatment.
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