15 dead as tensions mount in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP):

Gunfire and explosions shook Ivory Coast's main city yesterday as supporters and security forces loyal to the two men claiming to be president clashed in the streets, killing at least 15 people and bolstering fears the world's top cocoa producer is teetering on the edge of another civil war.

One errant rocket-propelled grenade struck an outer perimeter wall of the United States Embassy in Abidjan during the fighting, but no injuries were reported and the damage was minor, according to two US State Department officials in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

The bloodshed in the lagoon-side commercial capital, once known as the "Paris of Africa" for its cosmopolitan nightlife and chic boutiques, is part of a risky push to take control of state institutions by Alassane Ouattara, the widely recognised winner of an election that millions once hoped would reunite the West African nation after a 2002-2003 war split it in two.

International rights group Amnesty International warned the regional powerhouse "has never been so close to a resumption of civil war."