Hundreds killed in Cote d'Ivoire clashes
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At least 800 people have been killed in western city of Duekoue in Cote D'Ivoire this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday.
![Pro-Gbagbo militiamen patrol in the empty streets of Abidjan as forces loyal to the internationally recognized Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara approach the capital, on March 31, 2011. Vehicles loaded with fighters backing Alassane Ouattara were gaining ground today and said to be only 130 kilometres from the economic capital Abidjan, according to a witness.[Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20110402/000cf1bdd03f0f01202a45.jpg "Pro-Gbagbo militiamen patrol in the empty streets of Abidjan as forces loyal to the internationally recognized Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara approach the capital, on March 31, 2011. Vehicles loaded with fighters backing Alassane Ouattara were gaining ground today and said to be only 130 kilometres from the economic capital Abidjan, according to a witness.[Xinhua]") |
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Pro-Gbagbo militiamen patrol in the empty streets of Abidjan as forces loyal to the internationally recognized Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara approach the capital, on March 31, 2011. Vehicles loaded with fighters backing Alassane Ouattara were gaining ground today and said to be only 130 kilometres from the economic capital Abidjan, according to a witness.[Xinhua] |
"There has been too much bloodshed, including hundreds of civilians killed or wounded," the UN chief told reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where he was on an official visit.
"I once again urge all parties – let me repeat all parties – to exercise restraint. I would remind all those who commit serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws that they will be held accountable," Ban said.
"For some weeks now, the humanitarian situation in Côte d'Ivoire has been steadily deteriorating. The country is now in the throes of a full-fledged internal armed conflict," said Pierre Krähenbühl, the ICRC's director of operations said on Tuesday.
The post-election violence have forced over one million people to flee their home, the United Nations said.
"Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the fighting and the looting. Most of them find refuge with families, but thousands of others, who are in schools, churches, mosques and other public buildings serving as makeshift reception centers, lack everything: food, emergency supplies, medicines, shelter, clean drinking water... The vast majority of refugees and other displaced people are constantly on the move, which makes it especially difficult to organize relief, and also to estimate their numbers," Mr Krähenbühl also expressed his concern for the trapped civilians.
Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told a news conference in Geneva that they have received "unconfirmed but worrying" reports of human rights violations committed by the pro-Ouattara group known as Forces Républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI) during their advance towards Abidjan.
Pro-Gbagbo forces committed similar violations, Colville said.
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