• Gbagbo supporters seized as pressure increases on Ivory Coast strongman

    AFP - Getty Images

    Backers of Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo seized by supporters of the country's internationally recognized leader Alassane Ouattara are held on April 5 at the Golf Hotel, Ouattara's headquarters in Abidjan.

    AFP - Getty Images

    Backers of Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo seized by supporters of the country's internationally recognized leader Alassane Ouattara are led on a rope on April 5 at the Golf Hotel, Ouattara's headquarters in Abidjan.

    Read about the latest developments in Abidjan, where Laurent Gbagbo is bunkered down in his residence as forces loyal to presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara attack the building.

  • Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo under fire

    AFP - Getty Images

    A pro-Ouattara fighter of the FRCI (Republican Force of Ivory Coast), wearing a gas mask, prepares for the so-called "final assault" in front of the Golf Hotel in Abidjan on April 5. Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo is hunkered down in a bunker at his residence in Abidjan, after calling for a ceasefire as rival forces cornered him, the UN mission said.

     

    Emmanuel Braun / Reuters

    A soldier loyal to Alassane Ouattara moves along a road as fighting flares across Abidjan on April 4. Forces loyal to Ouattara streamed into the city from the north on Monday.

    Luc Gnago / Reuters

    Explosions are seen at a camp of soldiers loyal to Laurent Gbagbo during an attack by U.N. and French armed forces in Treichville in Abidjan on April 4.

    Jane Hahn / AP

    In this photo taken on Sunday, April 3, and made available on April 5, a UN peacekeeper from Jordan looks up as he and others return fire on troops supporting Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo during a patrol in the streets of Abidjan.

    Follow the latest developments in Ivory Coast, take a look at a timeline of the country's turbulent history and see more images on PhotoBlog.

  • Pro-Ouattara troops mass for "final assault" in Ivory Coast

    Emmanuel Braun / Reuters

    Forces loyal to Ivorian presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara gather outside the capital Abidjan, April 3. Fighters loyal to Ivory Coast presidential rivals Laurent Gbagbo and Ouattara held onto positions around the main city Abidjan on Sunday, a day that saw less fighting than the previous three. Soldiers of Ivory Coast's rival leaders battled for the presidential palace, military bases and state TV in the main city Abidjan on Saturday, in a conflict becoming so brutal that it killed 800 people in one town alone. Advancing soldiers backing Alassane Ouattara, who U.N.-certified results show won a Nov. 28 presidential election, met stiff resistance from fighters remaining loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down.

    Fighters backing democratically elected leader Alassane Ouattara entered Abidjan by the truckload Monday afternoon as part of a final offensive to take the last piece of the West African country still largely controlled by Gbagbo.

    Emmanuel Braun / Reuters

    A fighter loyal to Ivorian presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara displays traditional hunters' charms as forces gather outside the capital Abidjan, April 3.

    A convoy of several dozen vehicles containing heavily armed pro-Ouattara troops and outfitted with mounted machine guns entered Ivory Coast's main city at midday, the first elements of a large force that had massed on the northern outskirts for what they called a "final assault," according to a Reuters eyewitness.

    Emmanuel Braun / Reuters

    Forces loyal to Ivorian presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara prepare to head to the frontline in the capital Abidjan, April 2.

     Heavy machine gun fire and a few explosions could be heard minutes after they entered the city limits.  Read full story here.

  • Soldiers open fire on civilians in Ivory Coast, killing 4

    Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images

    A wounded man recieves medical care at a hospital in Abidjan's Treichville neighbourhood on Tuesday, March 8.. At least three men and a woman were the latest victims of an increasingly bloody post-electoral crisis, which the UN fears could become a full-blown civil war.

     The AP says: In an act of bold defiance, thousands of women converged Tuesday on the bloodstained pavement where seven of their sisters fell last week, even as the army backing this country's rogue leader killed four more civilians.

    The brutal slayings last week occurred when soldiers in armored personnel carriers opened fire on a crowd of female demonstrators who were armed with nothing more than tree branches, symbolizing peace.  Read the full story here.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Women's organizer Betty Nguessan, center, grieves during a march 'of mourning' for all the victims of post-election violence, in the Treichville neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast Tuesday, March 8. Later in the day, soldiers backing Ivory Coast's rogue leader opened fire on civilians again, killing at least four people in Treichville hours after hundreds took to the streets to protest the deaths of seven women gunned down at a march last week.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    A doctor stanches bleeding from a head wound as he treats people on the corridor floor of the health clinic.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Aladji Diawara is comforted by a friend and a relative, as he grieves for his brother Mohamed, 30, who died from gunshot wounds after security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo opened fire on civilians.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    A nurse prepares to give an IV to a man shot in the arm when security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo opened fire on civilians, at a health clinic, in the Treichville neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast Tuesday.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    A man shot in the leg when security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo opened fire on civilians receives treatment at a health clinic, in the Treichville neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast Tuesday, Tuesday. Soldiers backing Ivory Coast's rogue leader opened fire on civilians again Tuesday, killing at least four people hours after hundreds took to the streets to protest the deaths of seven women gunned down at a march last week.

     

  • Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images

    Supporters of Alassane Dramane Ouattara burn tyres in Abidjan on February 24, 2011. The government of Ivory Coast's strongman Laurent Gbagbo accused "rebels" supporting his rival Alassane Ouattara of engaging in a "revolution" during clashes this week. Intense fighting in Ivory Coast threatened diplomatic efforts to end a months-old tug-of-war between rival claimants to the presidency of the world's top cocoa producer.

    Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images

    A family flees the neighborhood of Abobo PK 18, a suburb of Abidjan on February 24, 2011. A burnt-out defense vehicles sits on the side of the road, a remnant of the second day of conflict between defenese and security forces who are loyal to Ivory Coast's strongman Laurent Gbagbo and rebel groups in support of Alassane Ouattara.

    Residents flee Abidjan as election violence in Ivory Coast continues.

    By Phaedra Singelis, NBC News

    More on what's happening in Ivory Coast.

  • Ivory Coast daily life a day after violent clashes

    By Mish Whalen

    Daily life was resuming Thursday morning in the opposition stronghold neighborhood of Abidjan, which has seen deadly clashes between security forces and residents in the past two days. The head of the army warned Wednesday that his troops reserve the right to retaliate, raising concerns about more violence amid Ivory Coast's political crisis, according to AP.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Local residents walk past the burnt shell of a car, in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011.

    Luc Gnago / Reuters

    An Ivorian soldier gestures as he stands guard at a checkpoint on a street in the Abobo area of Abidjan on January 13, 2011. Forces loyal to Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo eased a blockade on Thursday around the scene of clashes between rival political camps in Abidjan after a night of calm under curfew, witnesses said.

  • Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images

    A woman crosses the street in front of a burnt-out United Nations peacekeeper car on Dec. 30 in the Yopougon neighborhood of Abidjan, home to supporters of Laurent Gbagbo. A mob attacked a UN convoy in Abidjan on Tuesday, injuring one peacekeeper with a machete and setting a vehicle alight, the UN said. Gbagbo, who is under heavy pressure to step aside after refusing to cede power in the wake of Nov. 28 elections, has demanded UN troops pull out of the country, saying they are supporting former rebels loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara.

    Ivory Coast crisis: Burnt U.N. peackeeper car in Abidjan

    By Elena Grothe

    See here for the latest Ivory Coast news.

    AP reports:

    ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Witnesses said dozens of bodies had been dumped near a large forest on the city's outskirts, as reports grew of political opponents being abducted by security forces loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo after the disputed election.

    Now the United Nations believes up to 80 bodies may have been moved to a building nestled among shacks in a pro-Gbagbo neighborhood. Investigators have tried to go there several times, and even made it as far as the building's front door before truckloads of men with guns showed up and forced them to leave.

  • Violence heats up in Ivory Coast

    By Mish Whalen

    Weeks of post-election tension exploded on the streets of Ivory Coast’s capital, Abidjan, Thursday.

    Clashes erupted when supporters of opposition leader Alassane Ouattara – whose election victory has been acknowledged by the U.N., U.S., France and the African Union – took to the streets in an attempt to take over the national television station to install a new state television chief.

    The Ivory Coast has been operating with two presidents and two governments since a disputed Nov. 28 runoff. Ouattara was declared the winner by the country's electoral commission. But the next day, the constitutional council – controlled by the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo – overturned those results and declared victory.

    Ouattara’s supporters marched Thursday in an attempt to take over the country’s only television broadcasters. The TV stations have been a powerful voice for the incumbent Gbagbo who despite losing the election – is still declaring victory on the state controlled TV. 

    At least four people were killed in the clashes by mid-day Thursday after forces loyal to Gbagbo fired live rounds at marchers supporting Ouattara, witnesses said.

    See full story here.

    Sia Kambou / AFP - Getty Images

    Two wounded protestors lie on the street (at L) as troops loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo clash with supporters of Alssane Ouattara on December 16, 2010 in the popular Aboboa district of Abidjan.

    Issouf Sanogo / AFP - Getty Images

    The hand of supporter of Alassane Ouattara reportedly killed by Ivorian police and army forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo on December 16, 2010 in Abidjan.

    Kambou Sia / AFP - Getty Images

    Supporters of Alassane Ouattara, who has claimed to have won last month's presidential election, stand near burning tyres on December 16, 2010 during a protest in the Koumassi district of Abidjan.

    Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters

    Police patrol a street in Abidjan on December 16, 2010.

  • Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Supporters of opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara shout "We don't want Gbagbo," as they stand beside a street fire set in protest at incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo remaining in office, in the Koumassi neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Monday, Dec. 6, 2010.

    Protests erupt in the Ivory Coast after elections

    Former South African President Thabo Mbeki tried to mediate the nation's growing political crisis Sunday as hundreds protested in the country's north, a day after both candidates in the disputed election said they were now president. See more on this story here.

  • Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    A woman fills out her presidential ballot at a polling station at Groupe Scolaire Saint Jeanne in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, Nov. 28. Ivorians went to the polls Sunday in a long-overdue presidential election that many hope will reunite the country eight years after a civil war divided it in two. Voters are choosing between president Laurent Gbagbo and the man he accuses of being behind the rebellion that sought to topple him, Alassane Ouattara.

    Voters go to the polls in the Ivory Coast

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    I like the simplicity of this picture.