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Helicopters fly over Ivory Coast bunker where strongman Laurent Gbagbo is holed up.
A soldier allied with Alassane Ouattara takes up a position Sunday as fighting moves closer to a checkpoint used as a republican forces operating base in the Youpougon neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
AP PHOTO
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — United Nations and French helicopters fired rockets on strongman Laurent Gbagbo’s residence on Sunday in an assault the U.N. said was to retaliate for attacks by his forces on U.N. headquarters and civilians.
Residents from nearby neighborhoods reported seeing two U.N. Mi-24 attack helicopters and a French helicopter open fire on the residence, where Gbagbo is holed up in a bunker. The residents couldn’t be named for fear of reprisal.
An Associated Press reporter saw the helicopters take off from the French military base followed minutes later by explosions coming from the direction of the residence. Successive waves of French helicopters took off from the base in the following hours and additional bombardments could be heard.
Gbagbo has been living in a bunker in his residence in Abidjan for nearly a week. After a decade in power, he refuses to step aside even though the United Nations has ruled that he lost the November presidential election to Alassane Ouattara.
Forces loyal to Gbagbo were encircled at the presidential residence earlier this week but broke out on Saturday, ambushing a patrol of soldiers loyal to his rival and advancing downtown.
Pro-Gbagbo forces also attacked U.N. headquarters on Saturday and again on Sunday.
“This is in retaliation for a series of attacks for the last three or four days not only against (the U.N.) but also against the civilian population — often with heavy weapons,” said U.N. spokesman Hamadoun Toure.
Forces on both sides have been accused by human rights groups of killing hundreds of civilians in recent weeks.
Toure said Sunday’s airstrikes targeted the presidential palace and Gbagbo’s residence, as well as military bases where heavy weapons had been identified.
Gbagbo has lost control of virtually the entire country in the last two weeks as forces loyal to Ouattara have swept down from the north and west into the commercial capital. U.N. and French forces joined the effort last week, and a first round of U.N. and French airstrikes destroyed much of his arsenal of tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons.