Ivory Coast Army Accuses Rebels, Strikes Back
Ivory Coast’s army attacked rebels on Thursday after accusing them of breaking a truce in the most serious flare-up on the main battlefront since last month’s stalled peace deal. Tension has been creeping up on both sides of the West African country’s front line because of a row over whether the biggest of three rebel factions will get key security posts it says it was promised in a coalition government. Leaders of the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI) said they would fly to former colonial power France for new talks to try to put the government in place and end a war that has left thousands dead in the world’s top cocoa grower. Army helicopters backed ground troops near the central sugar-growing town of Zuenoula early on Thursday after clashes in the area on Wednesday, residents said by telephone. They later said sounds of gunfire had died down. Full Story