Fresh Fighting Breaks Out In Ivory Coast - See Details

The two largest cities in Ivory Coast – Abidjan and Bouake – were on Monday engulfed in heavy gunfire as mutinous soldiers continue to revolt over bonus payments.

This comes after the fragile peace in the West African country was shattered yet again on Saturday when a group of soldiers blocked off access to Bouake, killing three and declaring their readiness to take on government forces if attacked.

According to  the News Agency of Nigeria, loyalist troops began advancing towards Bouake, the epicentre of the revolt, on Sunday in an operation aimed at ending a four-day nationwide army mutiny..

Eyewitnesses say sporadic gunfire was heard overnight as well as heavy shooting in Daloa, a hub for the western cocoa growing regions.

“I’ve been hearing the sound of Kalashnikovs and a heavier weapon. That began at around 5 a.m. (0500 GMT) … It’s intense,” said one Abidjan resident, who lives near the U.S. Embassy and the presidential residence.

Another Abidjan resident said the revolting soldiers came out of the country’s largest military camp and erected barricades, blocking traffic along one of the main thoroughfares in the east of the city.

“There was heavy shooting at the northern entrance to the city and in the city centre. It’s calmed a bit but we’re still hearing gunfire,” said one Bouake resident.

Others claim the shooting in both cities intensified before dawn, bringing echoes of a similar revolt in January that paralysed economic activities and shattered the country’s reputation as a post-war success.