ABIDJAN - Authorities in the Ivory Coast have arrested 21 gendarmes and seized stocks of weapons after an attack on Abidjan's main gendarme base early on Saturday triggered a gun battle, it was reported yesterday.
Gunfire rang out from the Agban paramilitary base for nearly an hour on Saturday. The Nord-Sud daily said dissident gendarmes tried to attack the base but were repelled, underscoring the challenge President Alassane Ouattara faces restoring security to Ivory Coast.
Nord-Sud is close to Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who is also defence minister and de facto leader of the former rebels who helped oust former president Laurent Gbagbo.
Rebels now make up the bulk of Ouattara's military commanders.