French Shoot Down Ivory Coast Warplanes

[maddezmom]

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Government warplanes bombed a rebel stronghold Saturday, killing a French peacekeeper and injuring 20 other people, and French troops responded by shooting down two military planes and an attack helicopter, U.N. officials said.


The violence threatened to drag French and U.N. peacekeepers into Ivory Coast's renewed civil war, sparked when army hardliners Thursday broke a cease-fire after more than a year of relative peace and launched airstrikes on rebel-held cities.


The government warplanes struck the northern town of Bouake on Saturday afternoon, killing the French soldier, U.N. mission spokesman Jean Victor Nkolo said. It was not clear whether the 20 injured were French soldiers or others, or what the air raid was targeting.


Soon after, a U.N. military spokesman said French forces shot down two Ivory Coast warplanes and an attack helicopter over rebel territory.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=515&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20041106/ap_on_re_af/ivory_coast

[maddezmom]

1. UN Security Council Schedules Ivory Coast Session

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20041106/ts_nm/ivorycoast_un_dc

[maddezmom]

2. Explosions Rock Ivory Coast's Main City Abidjan

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20041107/ts_nm/ivorycoast_dc

[maddezmom]

3. CNNI reporting 10's of thousands moving towards tthe airport to

liberate it from the French.

[Rose Siding]

4. Thanks for this, mm

Are the French allied with the rebels in this part of the world? I remember them rescuing Americans in the area a couple of years ago but I'm not familiar with the nature of the continuing dispute.

[maddezmom]

5. don't think so, but who knows anymore who is aligned w/ who

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Loud explosions rocked Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan early on Sunday and heavy gunfire could be heard.

Red tracer bullets streaked across the night sky. They appeared to be coming from the residential district of Cocody.



On Saturday, Ivorian warplanes killed nine French peacekeepers in a bombing raid during the fiercest clashes with rebels for 18 months in the world's top cocoa grower.

France hit back by destroying most of the West African country's small air force, sparking anger in Abidjan against French troops based in the city.

Thousands of stick-wielding youths marching past the French embassy in the city center and headed toward the airport, which was under French army control.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30995-2004Nov6.html?nav=headlines

[Sara Beverley]

6. And so the world is a safer place since Bush took office?

War will spread all over the globe under the guise of fighting terror.