4 April 2011
Last updated at 15:40 ET
French and UN helicopters have fired on military camps operated by Ivory Coast incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, in a bid to halt attacks on civilians.
The strikes came as fighters backing Mr Gbagbo’s rival Alassane Ouattara stepped up their attempts to take control of the main city, Abidjan.
The UN has been under pressure to fulfil its mandate to protect civilians, and asked for French help.
International groups say Mr Ouattara is the legitimate leader of the country.
Observers and regional bodies say he won elections late last year, but Mr Gbagbo has refused to step down.
‘Tipping point’
In recent days, pro-Ouattara forces have launched a sustained assault, sweeping down from their northern strongholds to capture the rest of the country.
Witnesses say they met little resistance until reaching the main city of Abidjan, a Gbagbo stronghold.
At the scene
There are about 50 pro-Ouattara soldiers resting in the shade, including some wounded who have just come back from the battle for Abidjan. One soldier described the fighting as “hot”.
A lot of troops have just left for what senior military commanders here are telling me is the final push for the city. A general emerged from a meeting at a makeshift headquarters at a half-built toll station and said the city would be in his control in “a matter of hours”.
Mr Ouattara’s forces have, of course, been saying this for some days but there is no doubt that this is a new and substantial offensive.
Pro-Ouattara commanders say they have launched their final assault on the city and expect to take it in a matter of days.
Many residents in Abidjan, a city of five million people, are said to be trapped indoors without food, water and electricity.
The BBC’s Barbara Plett at the UN in New York says the Security Council may well feel that Mr Gbagbo’s days are numbered.
She says they may be more willing to allow actions that would previously have seemed interventionist.
The UN said an attack helicopter had fired missiles at heavy weapons in a pro-Gbagbo military camp.
Earlier, the UN chief’s representative in Ivory Coast, Choi Young-jin, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme: “We are fast approaching a tipping point.
“We are planning action, we can no longer condone their [Mr Gbagbo’s forces] reckless and mindless attack on civilians and the United Nations blue helmets with heavy weapons.”
He said the 9,000 troops who are part of the UN mission in Ivory Coast (Unoci) did not have a mandate to dislodge Mr Gbagbo, but they did have the powers to respond to heavy weapons attacks against the UN or civilians.
France’s military fired on another camp, saying the UN had asked for urgent help to take out heavy weaponry and protect civilians.
Ivory Coast: Battle for power
- World’s largest cocoa producer
- Once a haven of peace in West Africa
- Ouattara recognised as president-elect in 2010
- International sanctions imposed to force out Gbagbo
- Hundreds killed, one million have fled
- 9,000 UN peacekeepers monitor 2003 ceasefire
Former colonial ruler France, which still has about 12,000 citizens in the country, had earlier taken control of Abidjan airport from the UN mission.
Gbagbo aide Abdon George Bayeto dismissed the helicopter strikes, telling the BBC that pro-Gbagbo forces would fight on and win.
Meanwhile, the UN has sent an envoy to investigate the massacre of hundreds of civilians in the western town of Duekoue.
The violence happened last week, when Mr Ouattara’s fighters moved south, ousting Mr Gbagbo’s troops from large swathes of the country. Both sides have said the other was responsible.
The UN said on Saturday that more than 330 people had been killed – mostly by Mr Ouattara’s forces.
However, the Caritas aid agency estimated that 1,000 may have been killed.
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