Ivorian unrest spreads northwards

Unrest in Ivory Coast has spread north from the southern city of Abidjan to the capital, Yamoussoukro.

A witness in Yamoussoukro told the BBC of gunfire and residents took arms from troops loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo, who is refusing to leave power.

In Abijdan there was an exchange of heavy arms fire overnight in an area loyal to Alassane Ouattara, widely seen as the winner of November’s poll.

The UN says the number of civilians fleeing west to Liberia has surged.

“Until mid-week we were seeing around 100 people crossing the border daily. But over the past 24 hours alone, the numbers coming across have swollen to 5,000 people,” the UN refugee agency said in a statement.

On Thursday, fighting erupted in the west, near the border with Liberia, breaking a six-year-old ceasefire between the government and former rebels who have now sided with Mr Ouattara.

An armed rebellion in 2002 split the world’s largest cocoa producer between the north, held by New Forces rebels and the government-controlled south.

November’s presidential vote was supposed to reunify the West African nation.

Mr Ouattara, recognised by the UN as the winner of the elections, has been holed up in a hotel secured by UN peacekeepers since the beginning of December.

Correspondents say in the intervening months business activity has come to a standstill.

All the main commercial banks closed their doors last week and tensions have escalated.

This week, there has been heavy fighting in the Abobo neighbourhood of Abidjan, prompting of hundreds of residents.

The BBC’s West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says it is unknown how many people have been killed during the gun battles, but Abobo has now become the scene of daily bloodshed.