Anti-Gbagbo protesters stand near a roadblock and burning tyres in the Abobo area of Abidjan last week

Ivory Coast rebels said yesterday they had captured the western town of Toulepleu from pro-Gbabgo forces and allied militias, continuing a march south that threatens to reignite civil war in the West African state.

Heavy fighting erupted in the town overnight, a week after the rebels captured two smaller towns to the north of it.

“Since 1410, the town of Toulepleu has been under the control of the New Forces (anti-Gbagbo rebels). We managed to seize some arms,” Mara Lassine, military spokesman for the rebels in the western zone, said by telephone.

There was no immediate comment from incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo’s military. 

Heavy fighting erupted in western Ivory Coast between rebels and forces loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, sources along the Liberian border said.

Gunfire could be heard by residents in Liberian border villages and wounded fighters were crossing over, seeking medical attention, the sources said.

Ivory Coast has been in turmoil since a disputed November election that threatens to drastically hinderexports from the world’s top cocoa grower.

The standoff has escalated into open armed conflict in the west and parts of the main commercial city Abidjan, and fears of another civil war have pushed cocoa futures to break regular 32-year highs.

“We in Tapeta, here, did not sleep last night from the sounds of the guns (in Ivory Coast),” a Red Cross official said, asking not to be named.

No casualty toll was available and the rebels’ spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Toulepleau is the third town captured after the smaller Zouan-Hounien and Bin-Houin, though none are strategically important.

“Many young people from the border towns were recruited by both forces in Ivory Coast,” a resident in the Liberian town of Dialah said.

“We were told that Gbagbo’s men were dislodged yesterday, but today, there is still resistance.”

Gbagbo claims he won the poll despite UN-certified results showing his rival Alassane Ouattara with an eight-point margin of victory, triggering a standoff that has killed hundreds.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Ivory Coast to Liberia, and analysts are worried Ivory Coast’s instability could spill over into its fragile neighbours.

African Union Commission chief Jean Ping has left Ivory Coast after inviting rival leaders Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara to hold talks Thursday on ending their stand-off, a source close the AU said.

Ping left the main city Abidjan yesterday after making the invitation during talks Saturday with the two men claiming to be Ivory Coast’s president, the source said.

The source said Ping delivered a message calling for the talks in Addis Abeba with the five heads of state tasked by the African Union with finding a peaceful solution to the dispute.

Ouattara said Saturday he was ready to attend, but there was no comment yet from Gbagbo or Paul Yao N’Dre, president of the constitutional council, who is close to Gbagbo and was also invited.

Ivory Coast has been locked in a political crisis since November elections that saw Ouattara internationally recognised as the country’s new leader but Gbagbo refuse to step down. Violence has flared the last two weeks, leading to fears that the stand-off could descend into civil war.

Witnesses and United Nations officials have blamed the pro-Gbagbo Defence and Security Forces (FDS) for shooting dead seven women Thursday during a pro-Ouattara demonstration in Abidjan. They have denied the charge.