20110223
reuters

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Gunfire and explosions shook an area of Abidjan that supports Ivorian presidential claiment Alassane Ouattara on Tuesday, and at least three soldiers died in clashes with protesters calling on his rival to step down.

The clashes carried on most of the day in Abobo, residents and the military said, while African presidents met with Ouattara on a trip aiming to end his violent post-election power struggle with incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.

The election that was meant to heal the wounds of a 2002-3 civil war and years of economic stagnation since, but looks increasingly likely to reignite the conflict.

A day earlier the delegation -- the presidents of South Africa, Chad, Mauritania and Tanzania -- met Gbagbo, who has defied international sanctions and pressure to yield to the results of a November 28 poll that showed he lost to Ouattara.

The military that supports him has crushed dissent in a series of bloody crackdowns, but military officials say they have been provoked because some Ouattara supporters are armed.

"Since this morning, there has been constant shooting between the military and the people here," said Abobo market trader Sephora Konate, who said she heard explosions and machinegun fire, but that later in the night it calmed.

"Everyone is terrified. Children are crying but there's nothing we can say to comfort them."

A commander at army headquarters who could not be named said three soldiers were confirmed killed in the clashes, but thought there were up to five dead. The military rarely gives civilian casualties, but previous clampdowns have left a trail of dead.