Mutineers hold two Ivory Coast towns

Renegade soldiers held two Ivory Coast towns today after loyalist forces quelled a violent coup attempt in the troubled West African country.

The deposed junta leader the government accused of trying to grab power again was killed in fighting yesterday.

Today, mutineers handed out guns to civilians and cruised the northern town of Korhogo in commandeered vehicles, firing occasional shots in the air.

The renegades also held the central town of Bouake, where the government said the country’s sports minister was captured when the insurgents launched their uprising in at least five towns yesterday.

After hours of heavy gunfire and explosions that left the Cabinet minister in charge of police dead, the government said it had regained control over most of the country.

Loyalist forces were mobilised nationwide to put down what Defence Minister Lida Moise Kouassi called the “last pockets of resistance.”

“Loyalist forces have come out on top,” President Laurent Gbagbo said in a statement from Rome, where he was on a state visit when the uprising began.