19 Killed in 3 Separate Shootouts in Ivory Coast

At least 19 people were shot dead in Ivory Coast’s main city of Abidjan before dawn Friday, military officials said, as the war-torn West African country shows increasing signs of instability.

Defense Minister Rene Amani said 18 attackers and one member of the security forces were killed in three separate shootouts. Some attackers were taken prisoner, he said.

Friday’s shootings marked the worst day of violence in the economic capital since rebels tried to seize power in September 2002. About 300 people were killed then as the insurgents battled government troops in Abidjan.

Although the nine-month civil war was officially declared over in July, the nation remains divided between the government-controlled south and rebel-held north.

Government and army officials called the attacks “the death throes” of people out to derail the shaky peace process. “There are people who still don’t get it. They’ll get what’s coming to them sooner or later,” Gen. Mathias Doue, the army chief of staff, told state television.

The Ivorian army and rebel officers have agreed to start withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line splitting the country today, but there is no set date for full-scale disarmament.

After a meeting with army officials in government-held Abidjan on Friday, senior rebel commander Bamba Siniema said the rebels had to rejoin a coalition government, which they quit in September in a rift with President Laurent Gbagbo, before their fighters could start handing in their weapons.