French forces take over Abidjan airport

French forces secure country's main airport as forces mass in battle to control Cote d'Ivoire's commercial capital.

French forces have taken over the airport in Abidjan as forces loyal to Cote d'Ivoire's presidential rivals battle for control of the West African country's main city. Reporting the French intervention, state television urged the city's residents to mobilise and protect Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president. The channel also accused Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, of wanting to engage in genocide in the West African country. "Alert, alert... The French army is occupying since last night the airport of Felix Houphouet Boigny," the caption read over images on television. "Seven cargo planes, transporting a hundred tanks and more than 2,000 soldiers, elements of the airport squadron have been taken prisoner. Sarkozy's men are preparing a Rwandan genocide in Ivory Coast. Ivorians, let us go out en masse and occupy the streets. Let us stay standing," it continued. The latest developments come as a fierce standoff between fighters loyal to Gbagbo and his rival for power Alassane Ouattara, the country's internationally recognised leader, intensify. Gbagbo's force retook the bridge leading to his presidential palace on Saturday after the opposition had appeared poised to topple him. Massacre The latest fighting follows an alleged massacre of hundreds of people in the small town of Duekoue in the west. A Catholic charity, Caritas, said up to 1,000 people had been killed by unknown attackers wielding machetes and guns. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) earlier estimated the death toll at around 800 people. The United Nations says it is investigating the alleged mass killings. Pro-Ouattara forces had marched easily into the country's largest city, where they encircled the presidential palace and Gbagbo's home on Thursday and Friday. They intend to battle Gbagbo's forces in their stronghold. "After the tremendous work throughout the interior of the country, the Republican Forces are reorganised to complete their noble mission," Kouakou Leon Alla, a spokesperson, said. Call for reinforcements Even in the face of a rapid military advance by pro-Outtara forces that has taken nearly 80 per cent of the national territory, Gbagbo has rejected calls to step down. While Ouattara's supporters faced little initial resistance in their swift push south, they now face Gbagbo's most reliable fighters, the roughly 2,500-strong elite Republican Guard, clustered in Abidjan along with remaining regular army troops. Gbagbo's military spokesman Alphonse Guano made a televised address on Saturday, calling on security forces to report for duty to resist attacks by forces loyal to Ouattara. Flanked by other soldiers, Guano said the state security forces were "being attacked by opportunistic forces including the United Nations, French forces and rebels". VIOLENCE MAPPED Marco Oved, a journalist, told Al Jazeera from Abidjan that many were heeding Guano's call. "We're already starting to see boatloads and carloads of young men gathering on the two main bridges that connect the northern and southern halves of the city," he said on Saturday afternoon. "These are really the key axis in town, and as long as they're controlled by these crowds, the city will really be on full lockdown." Gbagbo's allies have also urged people to form a human shield to protect the palace from Ouattara's forces, he said. An estimated 2,000 soldiers of the Republican Guard "appear to be digging in and fighting to the last minute," he noted, while armed members of the "young patriots," the youth wing of Gbagbo''s camp, have evolved into a "force to be reckoned with". Mass killing On Saturday an ICRC spokeswoman condemned intercommunal violence in Duekoue that it said had left hundreds dead. Hundreds of UN peacekeepers are based in the town. "This event is particularly shocking because of the magnitude and because of the extent of its brutality," Dorothea Krimitas, an ICRC spokeswoman, told Al Jazeera on Saturday. It was not clear what prompted the killings and whether the fighters were involved but Krimitas said that the death toll may rise as investigations on the ground continue. "Our colleagues have been on the field over the past two days, collecting more information and hopefully we will be able to gain a clear picture soon ... they have seen hundreds of bodies ... they have been able to evacuate 28 bodies to the morgue [so far] but activities should be ongoing in the coming days," she said. Patrick Nicholson, a spokesperson for Caritas, said the killings occurred over three days in a neighbourhood controlled by fighters loyal to Ouattara, though it was not clear who the perpetrators were. "The massacre took place in the ''Carrefour'' quarter of town, controlled by pro-Ouattara forces, during clashes on Sunday 27 March to Tuesday 29 March," Nicholson said. ''Rights abuses'' Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has received "unconfirmed but worrying reports" that the pro-Ouattara force "has been committing human rights violations" during the advance toward Abidjan. Since the disputed election, Ouattara had worked to rally international support for an armed intervention led by either the UN or a regional force to avoid the impression that he had taken the country by violent means. Ouattara's aides said he exhausted all diplomatic options before giving the armed group the go-ahead.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies