One person has been killed in Cote d’Ivoire as protestors clashed with police in several towns in the country ahead of next month’s presidential elections.
This is the first major outbreak of trouble ahead of the elections slated for October 25.
The protests were called by part of the opposition a day after the release of the list of official 10 contenders vying for the presidency was released by the Constitutional Council. The said list included incumbent president Alassane Ouattara.
The worst clashes took place in Logouata, a village in the western region, between rival groups armed with knives, clubs and rocks.
One elderly man was killed in the unrest and several houses torched according to witnesses. Several people were also injured and were taken to hospital in the nearby town of Sinfra.
Violent scenes were also experienced in Gbagbo’s western hometown Gagnoa where protestors erected barricades on the roads and set fire to tyres.
Opposition groups urged anti-Ouattara marches on the grounds that both of his parents were not Ivorian, the same objection cited before the deadly unrest back in 2010-2011 that left more than 3,000 people dead.
The then president Laurent Gbagbo, who is to stand trial for crimes against humanity in November in The Hague, had refused to step down and acknowledge Ouattara’s victory at the ballot box.
