Heavy gunfire erupted on Monday in Ivory Coast’s two largest cities, Abidjan and Bouake, witnesses said, as the military conducted an operation to end an army mutiny over bonus payments.
Gunshots were heard from two military camps in the east of the commercial capital of Abidjan, according to residents. In the Ivory Coast’s central second city, Bouake, gunfire broke out a day after one person was killed in the city. The shooting in both cities intensified before dawn.
Heavy shooting was also heard in Daloa, a hub for the western cocoa growing regions, on Monday.
“I’ve been hearing the sound of Kalashnikovs and a heavier weapon. That began at around 5am (0500 GMT) … It’s intense,” said one Abidjan resident, who lives near the US Embassy and the presidential residence, told Reuters.
Another Abidjan resident said mutinying soldiers came out of the West African nation’s largest military camp and erected barricades, blocking traffic along one of the main thoroughfares in the east of the city.
The shooting in Bouake broke out at the northern entrance to the city and in the city centre, said residents.
Differences over next compensation tranche
The latest violence in the world’s top cocoa producing nation broke out in January, when former rebels who had been integrated into the army’s ranks staged a mutiny over their demand for bonuses.
The troops, one-time rebels who backed Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara and controlled the northern half of the country between 2002 and 2011, were demanding the government pay them 12 million CFA francs (€18,000) per soldier.
They received five million francs (€7,500) in January and had been due to receive the rest this month, rebel sources say.
Last Thursday an end to the protest movement had appeared in sight after a spokesman for the rebel troops issued a public apology to Ouattara saying they were giving up all their financial demands.
However disgruntled soldiers said they were not consulted about the decision and on Saturday, rebel troops resumed their revolt, with soldiers blocking access roads in Abidjan, Bouake and other Ivorian cities.
On Sunday, Ivorian military chiefs vowed to put down the mutiny. In a statement released Sunday evening, the armed forces’ chief of staff General Sékou Touré said a military operation had been launched.
Once an economic hub in West Africa, the Ivory Coast has an army numbering around 22,000 soldiers, among them many former rebels who were integrated into the armed forces after years of conflict.
Last year, the government unveiled an ambitious plan to modernise the military, part of which would involve the departure of several thousand men, particularly ex-rebels, who will not be replaced.
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