U.N. Peacekeeper Killed in Rebel Stronghold

A U.N. peacekeeper was fatally stabbed in a northern rebel stronghold of divided Ivory Coast, the first violent death among the world body’s troops in the West African nation, a United Nations official said.

Investigators are looking into the attack on the Moroccan soldier in Bouake, north of Yamoussoukro, the capital, said a U.N. spokesman, Capt. Renald Boismoreau.

The U.N. has 6,000 troops deployed with 4,000 French peacekeepers along a buffer zone separating northern-based rebel fighters and government loyalist forces in the south.