ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Forces supporting Ivory Coast’s entrenched strongman broke through the security perimeter imposed around the presidential compound Saturday, firing on French helicopters in an advance that appeared to breathe new life into Laurent Gbagbo’s camp, which had been teetering on the brink of defeat.
Residents in the Cocody district of Abidjan reported two hours of explosions and heavy arms fire before sunrise Saturday. French forces said that helicopters attempting to evacuate diplomats from a residence near the presidential compound were hit by machine-gun fire.
No French soldiers were wounded in the attack by pro-Gbagbo forces, but the helicopters fired back, destroying one armored vehicle, said Cmdr. Frederic Daguillon, the French forces spokesman.
At the Golf Hotel, only a few miles from the presidential residence, soldiers loyal to internationally recognized President Alassane Ouattara scrambled to defend the compound, sending out patrols and reporting heavy fighting.
State Department deputy spokesman Mark C. Toner said in a statement that the U.S. condemns the new assault.
“It is clear that Gbagbo’s attempts at negotiation this week were nothing more than a ruse to regroup and rearm,” he said. “Gbagbo’s continued attempt to force a result that he could not obtain at the ballot box reveals his callous disregard for the welfare of the Ivorian people.”
In power for a decade, Gbagbo refuses to step aside even though the U.N. has ruled that he lost the November presidential election to his political rival Ouattara. For the past four months, Ouattara has been living out of the Golf Hotel, protected by U.N. forces as the internationally recognized leader of Ivory Coast.
With fighting ongoing, it was difficult late Saturday to determine whether Gbagbo’s soldiers had succeeded in gaining ground or whether the counterattack had failed to turn the tables.
