A rebel leader in western Ivory Coast said there were fierce clashes between his forces and loyalist troops on Saturday, a day after the army said it was attacked across a broad swathe of the region. The renewed clashes soured hopes that a power-sharing coalition could reunite the fractured West African nation after a seven-month civil war that has killed thousands, displaced more than a million and crippled the world’s top cocoa producer. “There are violent clashes at the moment,” rebel leader Felix Doh told Reuters by telephone, adding his troops had captured Bin Houye, 37 miles south of rebel-held Danane and near the porous border with Liberia. Doh said his fighters had killed about 350 soldiers loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo in recent days. He also accused the army of killing “entire families” in Bin Houye. “There are bodies all around the mosque,” he said. It was impossible to verify the claims independently and an army spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Gbagbo’s forces said late on Friday that rebels had attacked four different points, including Bin Houye, along a 87-mile western frontline. Full Story
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