Rebel soldiers wound six in Ivory Coast city after protest over pay

RENEGADE soldiers wounded six people in Ivory Coast’s second-largest city yesterday as they fired warning shots into the air to keep people in their homes.

A mother of three and five men were brought to hospital in the central city of Bouake after being shot by the rebels, who took to the streets on Friday in a protest over pay.

The soldiers had already shot and wounded one person on Saturday as they blocked access to the city, while another person was injured by soldiers rebelling in Korhogo, the main city in the north.

Defiant soldiers have also rebelled in the central city of Daloa, a trading centre.

Yesterday, the rebel soldiers in Bouake took up positions in front of the police headquarters, shooting into the air to stop residents gathering for a planned protest against the rebels’ actions.

“The shooting continues. The mutineers aren’t letting people leave their homes to demonstrate,” a resident, who requested anonymity, said.

The soldiers posted at the four main access points to Bouake have also been extorting money from drivers hoping to cross the city, stopping traffic in and out of Bouake.

Soldiers also rebelled in the economic capital of Abidjan on Friday, before being driven back by loyalist forces.

Bouake was the epicentre of a mutiny in January by former rebel soldiers who had been integrated into the army.

Negotiations on Saturday between the rebels and military commanders in Bouake failed to end the blockade of the city, and rebels warned they would fight back if the army tried to intervene.

“They can send whoever they want.

“We’re ready,” one of several masked soldiers at one checkpoint said on Saturday. The January mutiny saw the government promise to pay them 12-million CFA francs (R273 000) each, with an initial payment of 5-million francs (R111 380) that month.

The remainder was to be paid starting this month, rebel sources say.