20110315
reuters

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead four people on Tuesday near a roadblock run by youth supporters of Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo in the Abidjan suburb of Deux Plateau, several witnesses said.

The world's leading cocoa-producing country has been in violent turmoil since a disputed presidential election pitting incumbent leader Gbagbo against rival Alassane Ouattara. U.N.-certified results showed Ouattara won, but Gbagbo has refused to concede.

"I'm not sure what happened but we heard a burst of shooting near the youth roadblock just behind the Sococe supermarket," said Marco Abade, a resident of the leafy, middle-class neighbourhood.

"We heard screaming and there were four bodies of youths on the road," Abade added, saying he did not know if the dead were members of a pro-Gbagbo youth militia, who have set up roadblocks all over town, many armed with automatic weapons.

Another witness said one of the dead was initially badly wounded and was rushed to a local clinic where he died.

Battles between gunmen backing Gbagbo and Ouattara have raged in Abidjan's Abobo neighbourhood, an Ouattara stronghold, for three weeks but shifted this week closer to the centre of town.

Fighting has also spread to the west, across a north-south ceasefire line in place since the end of the 2002-3 war, increasing fears that an election meant to reunite the country will instead reignite the conflict.

Army chief General Philippe Mangou, whose immediate neighbourhood in west Abidjan was the scene of intense gun battles on Monday, told the pro-Gbagbo newspaper Notre Voie on Tuesday that his forces were ready for war.