ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Forces behind Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara attacked positions held by a warlord who helped fight to put him in power, the renegade's chief aide said Wednesday.
Felix Anoble said that Ibrahim "IB" Coulibaly's forces were attacked early Wednesday in the renegade's stronghold in Abidjan's Abobo neighborhood while they were waiting for the UN to come for disarmament.
Ouattara on Friday had ordered Coulibaly and his forces to disarm or expect to have weapons taken by force. Coulibaly said that disarming would take time to organize. He pledged his allegiance to the new president in an interview with The Associated Press, but has not been received by him.
"Our positions were attacked this morning by Republican Forces (FRCI) while our soldiers had met to wait for disarmament overseen by the UN," Anoble said.
Several residents in the PK-18 area of Abobo, Coulibaly's stronghold, confirmed the shootings.
Brig. Gen. Michel Gueu, the military adviser to Ouattara's Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, said Tuesday he met with a Coulibaly delegation to advise they disarm.
"We're here to bring a verbal message from the president and the prime minister who ask that IB deposes his arms," he said, adding that it was a prerequisite to meeting with the two leaders.
On Monday, Coulibaly's aides accused Soro's camp of attacking their forces. The two men have a years-old feud.
In 2004, Soro and Coulibaly waged bloody battles for leadership in the rebels' stronghold in the central city of Bouake. Soro won and Coulibaly was forced into exile.
The rivalry between Soro and Coulibaly is the biggest challenge to confront Ouattara's fledgling government since former strongman Laurent Gbagbo was arrested April 11.
Ouattara has little control over the former rebel forces that brought him to power and who will form the new Ivorian army by integrating with Gbagbo's old forces. The former rebels are commanded by five different warlords.
Coulibaly re-emerged in Abidjan in January at the head of the "Invisible Commandos" to start the battle against Gbagbo's forces after soldiers fired mortar shells and rockets into Abobo, a neighborhood that voted en masse for Ouattara.
The Nov. 28 elections were supposed to reunite the country, but Gbagbo's stubborn refusal to accept his defeat precipitated the most recent violence in a country in conflict for a decade. It is not known how many thousands have been killed and wounded.
Ouattara's government has appealed for residents to return to their normal lives in the West African nation.
Late Tuesday, Ouattara's government announced preliminary investigations into Gbagbo and his family.
"Procedures for preliminary investigations are underway for the crimes committed by Laurent Gbagbo and his entourage," government spokesman Patrick Achi said on Ivory Coast's TCI TV station. He said that nearly 120 people were arrested along with Gbagbo and his wife Simone on April 11. He said that some, including the household staff and minors, had been released.
Gbagbo and Simone are being held in separate towns in the country's north.