Ouattara, March 14: Forces loyal to president-elect of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, have captured the western town of Doke, amid mounting political turmoil in the country.
Military spokesman Capt. Leon Kouakou Alla said on Sunday that Ouattara loyalists, called the New Forces, took control of a fourth town from security forces, the Associated Press reported.
The opposition forces had previously gained control of the prefecture of Toulepleu and the town of Zouan-Hounien on the Liberia border.
New Forces is an ex-rebel group that expressed support for Ouattara following the announcement of results of presidential election last November.
The UN has recognized Ouattara as the winner of the vote, but the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step down, triggering a political standoff in the country.
All diplomatic efforts by the African Union (AU) to persuade Gbagbo to quit office peacefully failed to bear any fruit with him clinging to power defiantly.
The last round of the body’s mediation mission in Ethiopia last week ended in vain as Gbagbo did not attend the meeting. Before the meeting, he said he would not step down.
The AU has finally announced that Ouattara is the rightful winner of the vote and urged Gbagbo to leave office, a decision rejected by Gbagbo government as “unacceptable and unjustified.”
The crisis has been intensified during the past weeks with several people killed during the crackdown on anti-Gbagbo demonstrations.
There are growing fears that the country could plunge into another civil war if the strongman resists calls by the international community to hand over power to Ouattara.
——–Agencies