UN finds gruesome mass graves
2004-08-03 08:38
Abidjan - Three mass graves containing at least 99 bodies have been discovered in northern Ivory Coast in a region under rebel control, the United Nations mission in the west African country said on Monday.
"Some of these people were killed by gunshots. According to reliable witnesses, others were suffocated," the UN Operation in Ivory Coast said in a statement.
It said the graves were found in the northern town of Korhogo.
Gunbattles between rival rebel factions left 22 people dead last month in Korhogo and the central town of Bouake.
The firefights began with a late-night attack on June 20 by "heavily-armed elements" on a convoy travelling from Burkina Faso to Korhogo carrying rebel leader Guillaume Soro.
Further clashes ensued in Bouake between followers of Soro and those of former coup-plotter Ibrahim Coulibaly, known as IB.
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.