| That didn't take long, did it? The Frenchies' bunks are still warm... |
Heavily armed men attacked two military barracks in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan on Monday, setting off a battle with security forces that officials say killed 10 people. Gunfire and heavy explosions shook the military barracks at Akuedo, located in northeastern Abidjan, for about an hour before a tense calm returned to the area. General Phillipe Mangou, chief of the armed forces, went on state television afterward to reassure residents, saying military forces had repulsed the attack. Colonel Hilaire Gohourou Babri, an army spokesman, said seven of the attackers and three members of the security forces were killed in the battle. Babri said dozens of the attackers had been arrested. He ruled out rumours that there had been a mutiny, but there was still no word on who carried out the assault, the first since a new national unity government took office last week to help steer the country towards delayed elections due later this year.