U.N. and French helicopters attack Gbagbo forces

A soldier allied with Alassane Ouattara is given a handful of bullets for his new AK-47 after a shipment of weapons arrived at a republican forces operating base on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Monday, April 11. French tanks advanced toward the bunker where Ivory Coast’s strongman leader hung on to power Monday, marking the first time that forces from the former colonial ruler have become involved in the ground operation to oust him.(AP Photo)
 
ABIDJAN, April 11 (Reuters): U.N. and French helicopters attacked forces loyal to Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo overnight into Monday, damaging the presidential residence in Abidjan and destroying heavy weapons that U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon ordered silenced. Gbagbo refused to step down after his rival Alassane Ouattara won last November's presidential election, according to results certified by the United Nations, reigniting a civil war that has claimed more than a thousand lives and uprooted a million people.
Helicopter attacks a week ago on Gbagbo's heavy weapons by the United Nations and France appeared to bring Gbagbo's forces to the point of surrender, but they used a lull in fighting to regroup before taking more ground in Abidjan. It was not yet clear to what extent the latest attacks would tilt the battle in favor of Ouattara's forces or whether further raids would be required,
Residents reported heavy fighting on Monday morning between forces loyal to Ouattara and those backing Gbagbo around Abidjan's Cocody and Plateau districts, still controlled by forces loyal to Gbagbo. Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the U.N. mission in the country, said U.N. and French forces pursued their operations throughout the night and early on Monday to neutralize Gbagbo's weapons.
"We had targeted and hit several different places where we found heavy weapons, not only the areas around Gbagbo's residence, but all places where we know that there are heavy weapons," Toure said, adding that the United Nations would review the situation later on Monday. Ban said the U.N. headquarters in Ivory Coast, Ouattara's base and two civilian districts had been hit by machinegun, sniper and rocket-propelled grenade fire in recent days.
"These actions are unacceptable and cannot continue," said Ban, authorizing U.N. peacekeepers to use "all necessary means" to suppress the use of heavy weapons by Gbagbo's troops. U.N. forces had launched military operations "to prevent the use of heavy weapons which threaten the civilian population of Abidjan and our peacekeepers," he said.
Pro-Gbagbo sites including a naval base and several military bases around Abidjan were targeted, witnesses said. Gbagbo's spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, said by telephone that thick smoke billowed from the presidential residence after the combined French-U.N. strikes, but he declined to say whether Gbagbo was inside at the time.
"U.N. and French helicopters continue to fire at President Gbagbo's residence which has been partially destroyed," he said. Residents near the presidential palace and Gbagbo's residence, where he is said to be holed up with his family, close advisers and about 1,000 militiamen, said they heard heavy cannon fire and shooting on Sunday afternoon.
Ouattara's government said it had asked the United Nations to carry out its mandate after its base in the U.N.-protected Golf Hotel and civilians came under heavy weapons attack from Gbagbo's forces. They have launched a counter-attack against Ouattara's troops, who had swept from the north to coastal Abidjan almost unopposed more than a week ago in a drive to install Ouattara as the top cocoa producer's leader.
Gbagbo's defeat had appeared imminent last week and talks took place between the two sides. But Gbagbo's soldiers have dug in, holding on to swathes of the city and frustrating hopes of a swift end to the conflict. The U.S. State Department condemned the attack on Ouattara's hotel and said Gbagbo's attempts at negotiation last week were no more than a ruse to regroup and rearm.
A Reuters correspondent at the French military base near the airport, about 15 km (9 miles) from Gbagbo's residence, said loud explosions could be heard coming from the direction of the fighting on Sunday. Four helicopters, two U.N. and two French, carried out operations.