Ivory Coast Six-Year Ceasefire Breaks Down

Evacuating families and the growing number of casualties punctuate the atmosphere in post-election Ivory Coast. Supporters for the two presidents, former President Laurent Gbago and President elect Alassane Ouattara are now at the point of civil war.
Ivory Coast Six-Year Ceasefire Breaks Down
A family flees the neighbourhood of Abobo PK 18, a suburb of Abidjan, carrying luggage on their heads, on February 24, 2011. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)
Jasper Fakkert
2/24/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/IVORY_COAST_109408413_2.jpg" alt="A family flees the neighbourhood of Abobo PK 18, a suburb of Abidjan, carrying luggage on their heads, on February 24, 2011. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)" title="A family flees the neighbourhood of Abobo PK 18, a suburb of Abidjan, carrying luggage on their heads, on February 24, 2011. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1807751"/></a>
A family flees the neighbourhood of Abobo PK 18, a suburb of Abidjan, carrying luggage on their heads, on February 24, 2011. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)
After six years of a ceasefire agreement, fighting between rebels in northern Ivory Coast and the army broke out on Thursday. 

The rebels, who are supporting President-elect Alassane Ouattara, say they were attacked by the army supporting the former President Laurent Gbagbo, according to the BBC.

Gbagbo has refused to step down following the elections last November, pushing the volatile country to the verge of a civil war. The elections were supposed to seal the reunification of the country, which was divided between a government-controlled south and a rebel-controlled north that ended in 2002.

Clashes between supporters of the two presidents erupted in the Ivory Coast’s largest city Abidjan on Monday. The United Nations estimates that 300 people have been killed as a result of post-election violence and 35,000 people have fled the country.
Jasper Fakkert is the Editor-in-chief of the U.S. editions of The Epoch Times. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication Science and a Master's degree in Journalism. Twitter: @JasperFakkert
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