warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

United Nations Fires Missiles At Gbagbo Forces In Ivory Coast

Mary Slosson |
April 4, 2011 | 4:40 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Injured Ivorians arrive at UNOCI headquarters (Photo Courtesy UN Photo/Basile Zoma)
Injured Ivorians arrive at UNOCI headquarters (Photo Courtesy UN Photo/Basile Zoma)
United Nations helicopters launched four missiles at a camp controlled by the Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo on Monday, stating that they were acting both in self-defense and to protect innocent civilians.

Gbagbo has refused to cede power to his Presidential successor, Alassane Ouattara, despite international election monitoring organizations certifying the results of the November election.

French helicopters within the United Nations mission in Ivory Coast also fired missiles upon the presidential compound in the capital, Abidjan, after the United Nations asked them to destroy heavy weaponry being used against civilians.

The day before the attacks, United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) Chief Y.J. Choi warned in a statement that attacks on civilians and the UN mission by Gbagbo forces "are tantamount to an act of war" and that "UNOCI reserves the right to take the measures required to carry out its mandate to protect civilians."

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated that sentiment in a statement Monday, justifying the action due to the fact that "in the past few days, forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo have intensified and escalated their use of heavy weapons such as mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns against the civilian population in Abidjan."

"Let me emphasize that UNOCI is not a party to the conflict," Ki-moon said. "In line with its Security Council mandate, the Mission has taken this action in self defense and to protect civilians."

The attacks could prove more problematic than they were intended, however.

The airstrikes are "illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable," said a Gbagbo spokesperson in Paris quoted in USA Today.  "France has gone to war against Ivory Coast."

"The international intervention also risked bolstering one of Mr. Gbagbo’s most potent propaganda weapons — that he is being targeted by foreign forces, notably the French and the United Nations, in an attack on Ivorian sovereignty," notes the New York Times' Adam Nossiter.

Meanwhile, the UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovic, arrived in the capital, Abidjan, on Sunday.

Both pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara forces must "immediately take all necessary measures to protect civilian populations, especially women and children, and put an end to all human rights abuses," Simonovic said via a ONUCI press release.

Pro-Outtara forces have been attempting to gain control of Abidjan and end the struggle over power in recent days.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness