7 women shot dead in I. Coast protests
A man shouts as forces loyal to Gbagbo shoot dead seven women in Abidjan's Abobo neighborhood on March 3, 2011.
At least seven women have been killed as forces loyal to incumbent Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo opened fire on supporters of Alassane Ouattara in the capital Abidjan.
On Thursday, several hundred women gathered in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan and shouted "Gbagbo, get out!" and "Alassane for president." Pro-Gbabgo troops arrived at the scene in armored vehicles and started shooting, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, the UN mission in Ivory Coast announced on Thursday that 50 people have been killed in the violence over the past week.
This took to 365 the number of people killed in Ivory Coast since a presidential standoff escalated in the West African country in mid-December.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that Ivory Coast could plunge into a civil war as tensions simmer over the disputed outcome of the run-off presidential election on November 28 in the West African country.
Nearly 25,000 Ivorians have fled to neighboring Liberia following the post-poll instability in former French colony, reports say.
On December 2, 2010, Ivory Coast's electoral commission announced that opposition candidate Ouattara had won the nation's long-awaited presidential election with 54 percent of the vote.
However, the Constitutional Council immediately contested the result, citing the electoral commission's failure to declare the vote result by the set deadline.
The council overruled earlier provisional poll results a day later and declared Gbagbo as the winner of the country's presidential run-off election.
Gbagbo has ignored calls from countries across the African continent and elsewhere around the globe to admit defeat to Ouattara and step down.
On December 9, the 53-nation African Union (AU) decided to suspend the membership of Ivory Coast over the disputed presidential election. The AU said the suspension would remain until Ouattara takes power.
A few days later, the European Union slapped a round of sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, against Gbagbo and his political aides to further his diplomatic isolation.
Ivory Coast is still reeling from the 2002-2003 civil war in the world's top cocoa-producing nation.
MP/MGH
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