Panafrican News Agency

UN deplores ambush of peacekeepers in Cote d'Ivoire

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire has condemned the ambush of its peacekeepers by armed forces loyal to outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan.

It said in a statament made available to PANA in New York on Thursday that the peacekeepers, made up of UN police and military personnel, was coming back from patrol in the suburb of Abobo when shots were fired at it, prompting it to return fire.

``The mission notes that this ambush occurred one day after forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo blocked and looted a UN peacekeepers convoy on its way to re-supply the Golf Hotel,” it said.

It also noted that three peacekeepers were slightly injured in the ambush.

The UN mission also reported that, ``several hundred men in black uniforms reportedly began shooting and forcing residents out of houses in Abobo''.

``The mission made contact at the political level with Gbagbo’s team, but when two UNOCI patrols tried to reach the area, they were blocked by people manning checkpoints,'' the statement added.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that more than 25,000 Ivorian refugees fled into neighbouring Liberia, with some 600 people arriving there each day.
-0- PANA AA/VAO 13Jan2011