Mass graves uncovered in Ivory Coast

THE UN’s Ivory Coast mission says three mass graves containing at least 99 bodies have been found near the northern rebel-held town of Korhogo.

A UN statement said some of the dead had been shot, but it quoted witnesses as saying others had been suffocated. The discovery came two days after rebels, who seized control of the north of the country in 2002, signed a deal to rejoin the government.

The New Forces, as the rebels are now known, stopped fighting the government 18 months ago, but there were clashes between rival rebel factions on 20 and 21 June in Korhogo.