30 killed as violence surges in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN: Forces loyal to strongman Laurent Gbagbo killed up to 30 civilians in an attack on an Abidjan suburb Thursday, the UN said, as violence surged in Ivory Coast's bloody post-election power struggle.

The missile attack on a market in the stronghold of Ivory Coast's internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara was one of the bloodiest since a disputed presidential election in November plunged the world's top cocoa producer into crisis, the UN said.

UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said the victims were "innocent civilians" or ordinary Ivorians who are increasingly bearing the brunt of a stand-off for the presidency, claimed by both Gbagbo and Ouattara.

Toure said a UN team which visited Abobo suburb "could see that the armed forces of president Laurent Gbagbo fired at least six missiles on the market and surrounding areas, causing the death of 25 to 30 people and injuring between 40 and 60."

He said the 10,000-strong UN mission in Ivory Coast, known as UNOCI, "expresses its indignation in the face of such atrocities against innocent civilians. The perpetrators will not go unpunished."

Earlier in the day witnesses reported at least 12 deaths to AFP.