COTE D'IVOIRE 21/6/2004 17:49 BOUAKÃ: DEAD AND INJURED IN CLASHES General, Brief At least 11 have been killed and twenty-some wounded in clashes between rival rebel factions in BouakÃ, around 350km north of Abidjan, commercial capital of the Ivory Coast. The news was referred by a witness cited by the AFP agency, who counted the bodies at the northern exit of the city. MISNA has not for the moment received independent confirmations. According to the same sources, among the victims is also the rebel leader âKassâ, loyal to Ibrahim Coulibaly (known as âIbâ, in France for over a year), leader of one of the two factions of the rebellion clashes since yesterday in the northern territories of the nation, controlled since 2002 by the rebellion. A representative of the âNew Forcesâ, the coalition of rebel movements headed by Guillaume Soro, stated that combatants of both movements were killed: on one side those of âIbâ and on the other of âCherif Ousmaneâ, military commander of the zone of BouakÃ, considered close to Soro. Medical sources of the city refer of at least twenty wounded, âincluding many civiliansâ. MISNA witnesses reported intensive fighting also in Korhogo, north of BouakÃ, last night theatre to violent clashes, though for the moment there are no details on the toll of the fighting. [BO]
