U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday said he was “deeply concerned” by recent attacks on peacekeeping patrols and the burning of U.N. vehicles by forces loyal to incumbent Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo. Beginning on Thursday morning, a total of six vehicles, including an ambulance, had been attacked and set alight in Abidjan, the United Nations said. “The secretary-general is deeply concerned that regular and irregular forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo have begun to attack and burn United Nations' vehicles,” Ban spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement. Ban also condemned the state broadcaster RFI for alleging in its broadcasts that U.N. troops are aligned with forces loyal to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the November 28 presidential election. Gbagbo has refused calls to step down, while Ouattara is being protected by U.N. troops at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, which has been blockaded by Ivorian military. More than 200 people have died in political violence since the election, and more than 25,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Liberia, according to U.N. figures.
