About 20 gunmen in military uniforms attacked
a police station in Adzope, southeastern Ivory
Coast overnight, temporarily shutting officers
inside and stealing weapons, the army said on
Friday.
The raid in the town, about 100 km (60 miles)
north of the commercial capital Abidjan, follows
months of military mutinies in the country that
have threatened to derail peace in Francophone
West Africa’s biggest economy.
Gunmen raid Ivory Coast police station
The attack occurred between 3:00 and 4:00 am
(0300-0400 GMT) on Friday, the army said in a
statement. The assailants also attacked a
pharmacy and a gas station and shot guns in
the air as they left.
There was no immediate information on injuries
or deaths, the statement said.
“It’s another attack … and it’s worrying,” said
an army spokesman.
“The situation is under control at the moment
and we are doing everything we can to end
these attacks and above all identify who is
behind them,” he said.
Ivory Coast is the world’s top cocoa producer
and has been regularly cited as a model of
post-conflict renewal since it emerged from a
decade of turmoil and a 2011 civil war as one
of the world’s fastest growing economies.
But successive waves of armed uprisings this
year by members of the security forces
demanding bonus payments have exposed
underlying insecurity.
President Alassane Ouattara rejigged top
security posts last month in what was seen as
an attempt to put an end to the unrest, but
that same day uniformed gunmen attacked the
base of an elite security unit in Abidjan,
stealing weapons and killing an officer.