Ivory Coast Gun Battles Resume

Heavy gunfire erupted around Ivory Coast’s second-largest city Sunday, heralding the start of a government offensive to reclaim the rebel-held north after cease-fire efforts collapsed.

Government troops riding in pickup trucks raced north toward rebels who have seized half of this once-stable West African nation since launching a bloody failed coup attempt Sept. 19.

“There’s firing all over the place,” said a frightened resident cowering in her home in the central city of Bouake, which has been in rebel hands for more than two weeks. Reached by phone, the woman said the shooting started Sunday afternoon and was still going on two hours later.

Presidential spokesman Toussaint Alain said Ivorian troops had launched operations “aimed at liberating urban sites occupied by illegal fighters.”

“They will continue until law is reestablished over the entire national territory,” he said in a statement from Paris. “At stake is the defense of the young Ivorian democracy and its institutions, imperfect as they are.”

French military officials, who have forces positioned east of Bouake, said there was no fighting in the city itself Sunday. But they said there were gunfire exchanges south of the city.

Rebels took up defensive positions south and east of Bouake, the French officials said. Rebel official Kone Messamba said the insurgents sent 50 vehicles with men and weapons from their northern stronghold, Korhogo, to reinforce Bouake.

The gunfire came as President Laurent Gbagbo told West African mediators that he would not sign a cease-fire agreed to last week unless rebels disarm first. Frustrated, the envoys from six West African countries--including foreign and defense ministers--packed bags to leave, saying they would consult with their heads of state on what to do next.

“We came here with the best intentions, now it’s basically a problem for Ivory Coast,” said Kwame Addo Kufuor, Ghana’s defense minister.