UN condemns attack on Ivory Coast displaced persons camp

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations on Friday condemned an attack on a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ivory Coast in which it said seven people were killed and 13 injured, promising to boost its mission in the area.

The UN secretary-general's special representative in the country, Bert Koenders, deplored "this criminal act, a flagrant violation of international humanitarian rights."

However, he did not explain why the contingent of UN blue berets charged with protecting the camp had not been able to prevent the killings.

The deaths came after reports that four people were killed in an attack late Thursday in the Kokoma district of Duekoue, inhabited mostly by ethnic Malinke.

Local sources said youths from Kokoma had later attacked the displaced persons' camp at Niambly on the outskirts of town, populated mainly by Guere people.

"They went to the camp, first of all destroyed the entrance, then burned down the camp," a security source said.

Those in the camp had fled there during the post-election crisis sparked by ex-president Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to admit defeat to current leader Alassane Ouattara.

Several sources said that the youths were accompanied by soldiers and traditional hunters who serve as auxiliaries to the army.

The UN mission in Ivory Coast was charged with guarding the Niambly camp but a staff member of the UNHCR refugee agency and a local journalist said the mission was overwhelmed by the crowd and "far too small."

"I cannot understand what happened for the UN not to be able to contain the crowd that was seeking revenge," said Cyprien Ahouret, a priest at Duekoue's Roman Catholic mission.

Koenders called on national and local authorities to make greater efforts to ensure security in the r4egion, adding that the UN mission would "immediately boost its presence on the ground."

Long prone to serious ethnic tensions based on land disputes, the western region of Ivory Coast remains the most unstable part of the country more than a year after the end of the post-electoral crisis of December 2010 to April 2011, which claimed some 3,000 lives, including hundreds in Duekoue.

Several villages came under attack in early June south of Duekoue, close to the border with Liberia. More than 20 people were killed, including seven UN peacekeeping troops from Niger serving with the UN mission in Ivory Coast. (AFP)