Côte d’Ivoire: More than 40 villagers killed in machete attacks, says UN mission
Residents of a village in western Côte d’Ivoire fled the area after unidentified attackers, armed with machetes, killed or wounded more than 100 people overnight, dealing a blow to the reconciliation attempts of the past month, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country said today.
Residents of a village in western Côte d’Ivoire fled the area after unidentified attackers, armed with machetes, killed or wounded more than 100 people overnight, dealing a blow to the reconciliation attempts of the past month, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country said today.
The UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) strongly condemned the attack, saying the assailants killed 41 people and wounded 61 on the outskirts of one of the West African country’s major cocoa marketing towns, Duékoué. People from the village and nearby localities fled to the town, it said.
The UN mission said it reinforced its troops in the area with mobile patrols and stationary units in the area, which is under Ivorian Security and Defence Forces (FDS) control.
UNOCI sent a team of human rights experts to the area and called on the Government to arrest the perpetrators and try them in conformity with the law.