Ivorian forces ‘breach ceasefire’

Fighting has erupted in western Ivory Coast, breaching the six-year ceasefire between ex-rebels and government troops, the United Nations says.

A UN spokesman told the BBC there were clashes in the village of Teapleu in the early hours of Thursday morning.

He said given the political stalemate, the reports were very “worrying”.

Tensions have been rising since President Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to hand over to Alassane Ouattara, widely seen as the winner of November’s poll.

“This is a very serious issue because it would be the first time the ceasefire is broken in six years,” Hamadoun Toure, the spokesman for the UN mission in Ivory Coast, told the BBC’s Newshour programme.

“It will also change the nature of the tension because so far we’ve been witnessing violence between civilians and the army – but now if we have two armies face to face it will be very very complicated.”

He said details of the fighting were sketchy.

Meanwhile, the clashes between rival supporters in the main city of Abidjan have claimed up to 20 lives since Monday.

An armed rebellion in 2002 split the world’s largest cocoa producer between the north, held by New Forces rebels, and the government-controlled south.

November’s presidential vote was supposed to reunify the West African nation.

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