Gun-battles between rival rebel factions in northern Ivory Coast left a dozen dead, officials said Monday, stepping up a power struggle that has compounded 20 months of tensions in the divided west African state.
Rebel military commander Colonel Soumaila Bakayoko said rebels loyal to coup-plotter Ibrahim Coulibaly, known as IB, were pressed into service by President Laurent Gbagbo and his Guinean counterpart Lansana Conte to wage the overnight attacks in the northern towns of Korhogo and Bouake.
"We have, once again, repelled a vain attempt to destroy us by extremists from all sides of the peace process," Bakayoko said in a statement.
"And we have taken steps to secure our populations and our communities against being targeted."
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has been mired in unrest since a failed September 2002 coup plunged the country into a divisive war that has left the north in rebel hands ever since. Low-level conflict continues despite a cease-fire in place since July last year, while the jockeying between rebel troops commanded by Guillaume Soro and IB loyalists has sparked numerous deadly clashes within the boundaries of the rebel zone.
Sunday's firefights began with a late-night attack by "heavily-armed elements" on a convoy travelling from Burkina Faso to Korhogo carrying Soro, who with IB was one of the leaders of a first coup in 1999 to rock Ivory Coast, a former beacon of stability in a troubled region.
Hours later a firefight pitting IB loyalists against rebel troops in Bouake erupted. Renegade rebel leader Bamba Kassoum, known as "Kass" was among those killed. French and UN peacekeepers operating in the area chose not to intervene.