Ivory Coast fighting rages on

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

Fighting raged on in the West African country’s second city, which soldiers claimed to have “liberated” earlier this week.

President Laurent Gbagbo was forced to concede that Bouake was “not totally under the control of the army”.

Gangs of rebel supporters roamed the city streets, witnesses said, hunting down members of a rival ethnic group that supports the government.

“I am in favour of dialogue,” Gbagbo said in a televised speech. “I am not in favour of war. We are fighting this war because it was forced on us.”

He has demanded the rebels disarm before any peace talks can begin.

“While you have weapons in your hands and you march against us, we have a duty to defend ourselves,” he said.

Meanwhile, witnesses said the rebels had made gains further west.

Residents in Vavoua, just 36 miles north of the government stronghold of Daloa, said rebels took over a paramilitary police headquarters on Monday.

Hundreds of people have been killed since the bloody failed coup attempt began on September 19.

The rebels include a core group of 750-800 former soldiers – many dismissed from the army for suspected disloyalty.

Their demands vary from reinstatement in the army to a new government.

Ivory Coast is the world’s leading producer of cocoa and a key port. The uprising, the country’s bloodiest ever, has unleashed deadly regional, ethnic and religious hatreds in what was once a haven of stability and prosperity in West Africa.