More fighting reported in the west

Fighting has been reported in locations in western Cote d'Ivoire between loyalist forces and insurgents, including a new group calling itself the Mouvement Patriotique Ivoirien du Grand Ouest (Ivorian Patriotic Movement of the Great West). The affected areas are around Vavoua, some 450 northwest of the commercial capital, Abidjan, and the town of Danane, near the border with Liberia, according to humanitarian sources, media and area residents. In Abidjan, there was a heavy military presence in Le Plateau, the main administrative district. Groups of men in civilian clothes could be seen filling sandbags around the Presidential Palace under the supervision of soldiers in uniform, an eyewitness told IRIN. Security was exceptionally tight at Abidjan airport. A curfew from 19:00 to 06:00 GMT/local time that was to have ended on Wednesday was extended to 6 December. Thursday's developments followed a vow made on Wednesday by the loyalist forces to go on the offensive in retaliation for what they claimed was a rebel attack on an area north of the western town of Man. The claim was denied by the Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI), which has been involved in peace talks in Togo with the government for about one month now following the conclusion of a ceasefire on 17 October. A spokesman for a French buffer force that has been monitoring the ceasefire was unable to confirm Wednesday's alleged attack. On Thursday, humanitarian sources and news media reported that the hitherto unheard-of Ivorian Patriotic Movement of the Great West had occupied Danane, a town about 600 km west of Abidjan and located in the heart of a zone populated by Liberian refugees. From Danane, an NGO worker told IRIN intense shooting started at around 09:00 GMT/local time. It lasted over two hours and a half, died down for a while, and then resumed with less frequency and intensity. A resident of a peripheral neighbourhood said shooting started there in the early afternoon. International media quoted a former loyalist of late de facto ruler General Robert Guei as saying the new movement had decided to take up arms against President Laurent Gbagbo to avenge the death of Guei, killed by loyalist forces along with his wife, other relatives and friends during the 19 September mutiny that marked the start of the rebellion. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that loyalist troops had strafed three locations around the town of Vavoua and had engaged MPCI insurgents in the town. Media reports quoted the spokesman of the French buffer force as saying that the government troops were supported by about 200 people who appeared to be mercenaries - whites and English-speaking blacks. The offensive came one day after visiting French Foreign Minister told journalists that opposition leader Alassane Ouattara had left the residence of the French Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, where he had sought refuge at the onset of the rebellion.