Ex-soldiers seize arms, take positions in Ivory Coast

Gunfire heard in Daloa city hours after demobilised soldiers took control of Bouake, the nation’s second-largest city.

Ivory Coast descended into civil war after a disputed 2010 election [File: Legnan Koula/EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Gunfire has erupted at a military camp in the western Ivory Coast town of Daloa, a resident and an army source said, hours after demobilised soldiers took control of Bouake, the West African nation’s second-largest city.

Unrest was also erupted in the city of Korhogo, according to The Associated Press news agency.

Former soldiers seized weapons from police stations overnight on Thursday and took up positions at entry points into Bouake, military sources said.

The city was the seat of a rebellion that controlled the northern half of the country from 2002 until Ivory Coast was reunited following a civil war in 2011.

“It’s a mutiny by former fighters integrated into the army who are demanding bonuses of 5 million CFA francs [$8,000] each plus a house,” a soldier who asked to remain anonymous told AFP news agency.

Heavy shooting was heard at about 2am before later easing, residents said, and sporadic gunfire continued into the late morning.

“The city is under the control of former [soldiers],” an army officer told Reuters news agency.

“There are many of them at the north and south entrances to the city. We are on alert and await instructions from the hierarchy.”

An officer at the West African nation’s military headquarters in the commercial capital Abidjan said reinforcements had been sent to Bouake.

“The situation remains unstable and serious in Bouake… Some civilians and even active-duty soldiers have started to rally to them,” he said.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, monitoring the situation from Dakar, Senegal, said the men taking over Bouake were former soldiers who supported the current government during the civil war that followed a disputed election in 2010.

“These are former soldiers that were part of an ECOWAS force trying to maintain peace in Liberia… Then they returned back to Ivory Coast where there was also a civil war and played a role to maintain peace and order in the country,” he said.

“Now they are saying they weren’t paid for their services. It seems that some negotiations are ongoing.”

Both Laurent Gbagbo, then the incumbent, and his rival Alassane Ouattara claimed victory in the 2010 election and the country quickly descended into turmoil.

Gbagbo was captured in April 2011 by forces loyal to Ouattara and delivered to the International Criminal Court charged with crimes against humanity. Ouattara was sworn in as president a month later.

Residents stayed inside and businesses in Bouake remained closed on Friday morning.

“The city is deserted. Men in balaklavas are patrolling the city on motorcycles or in cars. They aren’t attacking residents… They told us to stay at home,” said Ami Soro, a teacher living in Bouake.

Meanwhile a Daloa resident – speaking by telephone from a cocoa processing factory near the army camp – said the sound of weapons firing was continuing on Friday.

“There is gunfire at the second battalion [base] in Daloa. It’s young demobilised soldiers,” the resident said.

There was no clear sign of a link between the Bouake events and outbreak of shooting in Daloa, but the fact the rebels were also demobilised soldiers could indicate the uprising was spreading.

In November 2014, a strike by former rebels who had joined the army ground the country to a standstill after spreading to Abidjan from Bouake.

The nearly 9,000 strikers, who joined the army between 2009 and 2011, were demanding full payment of back pay and promotions. The government agreed to a financial settlement with the soldiers, who returned to barracks.