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Ivory Coast cops, troops clash
05/12/2003 19:04 - (SA)
Abdijan - Ivory Coast police and military troops shot at each other on Friday in Abidjan after a policeman was killed by a military police officer in the morning, said police and other sources.
A police officer was felled by a bullet aparently fired by a military policeman in the densely populated Yopougon neighborhood. Reasons for the shooting are still unknown.
The military and civilian police forces are traditional rivals in the west African state, and the morning incident triggered an uproar in various quarters where the officers and military police were stationed.
Military officers were sent in to soothe the tensions.
Gunfire broke out in the Cocody neighborhood later on Friday, an AFP journalist heard.
Police erected barricades
Lieutenant-Colonel N'Goran Aka spoke of a "brawl" between police and military police in the Williamsville district, but was unable to provide details.
"Everything will be OK, the priority is to reassure civilians," he said.
Visibly concerned armed police erected barricades in Williamsville, where a riot police department has its headquarters, preventing traffic from circulating.
Stores in the neighborhood were shut and only a few curious passers-by lingered in the suddenly deserted streets of the normally vibrant area. There were no sounds of gunfire heard in the immediate vicinity.
All was calm in the nearby Adjame neighborhood, where military police are stationed.
In a security warning to French civilians issued at midday on Friday, the French consulate advised its nationals to avoid Williamsville and Abobo, but was unable to provide any information about the exchanges of gunfire.
Once a model of stability and economic prosperity for west Africa, Ivory Coast has been locked in a military and political crisis for the past 14 months.
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