UN staff member killed by stray bullet in strife-torn Côte d’Ivoire

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire has lost a civilian staff member who died yesterday after being hit by a stray bullet.

Zahra Abidi, 33, was an information analyst at the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) in Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital that has been the scene of intensified fighting between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo and those supporting Alassane Ouattara.

The two men have been locked in a battle for leadership of the West African nation after Mr. Gbagbo refused to step aside following his UN-certified defeat to Mr. Ouattara in November’s presidential election run-off.

Ms. Abidi joined UNOCI in April 2009, first working as a UN Volunteer (UNV) with the mission’s Electoral Assistance Division, and later with the Joint Operation Centre, where the Swedish national helped to prepare daily situation reports and gather and analyse information on developments that might affect the mission’s mandate.

She was at home in a fifth-floor apartment in the Abidjan neighbourhood of Marcory when she was struck by a stray bullet that entered through her window.

Jacques Mouaya, the UNV Coordinator with UNOCI, remembers Ms. Abidi as a “quiet and tremendously efficient colleague,” who was extremely committed and never complained.

“Our discussions with Zahra were always about work, about how best she could contribute as part of the UNV programme,” he recalled. The fact that, as a volunteer, she was entrusted with such critical functions in the sensitive post-election crisis shows how much the mission believed in her ability to make a contribution, he added.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is currently on an official visit to Kenya, extended his condolences to Ms. Abidi’s family, adding that UNOCI will do everything it can to protect civilians and UN staff.

“There has been too much bloodshed, including hundreds of civilians killed or wounded,” he told reporters in Nairobi. “I renew my call on Mr. Gbagbo to step down to avoid further violence, and transfer power immediately to the legitimate winner of the election, President Ouattara.”

The post-electoral crisis has resulted in the deaths of nearly 500 people and the displacement of up to 1 million, many of whom have fled to neighbouring countries.

Despite the worsening violence and attacks against its staff and premises, UNOCI continues to carry out its vital work, which includes protecting civilians and essential locations such as the Golf Hotel, where Mr. Ouattara and his Government are based.

“I think we have a crucial role to play here because of the security vacuum,” Y. J. Choi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNOCI, said in an interview with UN Radio.

UNOCI – which has about 8,000 troops in the country, 3,500 of them in Abidjan – is receiving heavy fire, including attacks against its offices and its patrols. One of its helicopters was shot at in Abidjan today as it was landing, the second such attack in five days. In addition, pro-Gbagbo special forces have not stopped shooting at UNOCI headquarters since Thursday afternoon.

“We have so far seven people seriously injured and our headquarters is under heavy attack,” said Mr. Choi, whose own office was shot at several times.

The mission “vigorously condemns these attacks against its personnel, its offices and its patrols which constitute war crimes,” it stated in a news release. “The perpetrators of these acts will not go unpunished.”

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