Ivory Coast near to civil war as rival armed forces clash

For the first time since a contested election last November, the UN said, troops loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo were attacked by commandos claiming loyalty to his opponent, Alassane Ouattara.

Previously, Mr Gbagbo's troops had clashed with unarmed protesters loyal to Mr Ouattara.

"It changes the game," said local UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure. "Before it was clashes between police and protesters. Now if it's the beginning of fighting between two armed forces, it could have serious consequences for the country or even the region."

A spokesman for Mr Ouattara's camp said forces loyal to him seemed to be defending themselves without orders. "They've been harassed, kidnapped and killed by Gbagbo's men, so they're now defending themselves - it's normal," he said.

Residents reported automatic arms fire yesterday morning in the Abobo district of Abidjan, the commercial capital, after three days of heavy fighting between police forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo, who refuses to cede power, and a force calling itself the "invisible commandos," believed to include former rebels.

Hundreds of people fled Abobo on foot, some pushing carts, others with their belongings wrapped in sheets. Police sealed the area and turned back all cars trying to enter. Fighting also broke out in the west of the country near the border with Liberia and Guinea, the UN said.

"This is a breach of the cease-fire that has been holding for the last six years," Mr Toure said.

Mr Ouattara's camp claimed New Forces rebels allied to him came under attack in the west by militiamen allied to Mr Gbagbo early yesterday.

Two pro-Gbagbo militiamen were killed, a truck with a machine gun on it was seized, along with ammo and several Kalashnikovs, said the spokesman.

The development marks a significant escalation in the political crisis that erupted late last year after Mr Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in the presidential election, even though UN-certified results showed he had lost the 28 November vote by 9 per cent to Mr Ouattara. With the backing of the army, Mr Gbagbo has stayed in the presidential palace while Mr Ouattara has been barricaded in a hotel.Neighbourhoods backing him, including Abobo, have come under attack by Gbagbo forces, who are accused of killing more than 300 people since the vote.

But earlier this week "invisible commandos" allied to Mr Ouattara launched their own attack. They claimed to have killed 27 police officers in Abobo on Tuesday, taken hostage three officers, set fire to one armoured personnel carrier and seized three paramilitary vehicles, 32 Kalashnikovs, several machine guns, four rocket-propelled grenades and two cases of grenades.

A military spokesman for Mr Gbagbo's regime described Tuesday incident as an "ambush by a group of more than 50 rebels".