Rebels clashed with French forces in war-torn Ivory Coast today, firing mortars at positions held by the elite soldiers of the former colonial master.

THE Ivory Coast’s fragile ceasefire crumbled yesterday as hundreds of loyalist troops rolled toward rebels behind a two-month uprising raising the spectre of all-out war in the divided West African nation.

Rebels battled government forces today for a city in Ivory Coast’s cocoa belt, despite a renewed drive by West African peace envoys trying to negotiate an end to the fighting.

Ivory Coast troops today claimed to have made major advances against rebels who grabbed half the country – even as the guerillas seized another town.