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2012-06-11 Africa Subsaharan
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Thousands flee after deadly Ivory Coast clashes
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 ABIDJAN: Thousands of civilians in Ivory Coast have fled their homes after seven UN peacekeepers and eight civilians were killed in raids near the Liberian border, a UN official and residents said.
The wave of unrest prompted Liberia to announce it was shutting its border with its neighbour, although it said the move would not affect humanitarian work in the area.
The peacekeepers were killed Friday while they were patrolling an area between two villages after hearing rumours of an imminent attack on communities there. At least one Ivorian soldier was also killed in the ambush.
A series of simultaneous raids on several villages near the southwestern town of Tai sparked an "immediate" exodus, UN spokeswoman Anouk Desgroseilliers told AFP.
The raids came just days after a Human Rights Watch report blamed recent attacks in southwest Ivory Coast on fighters loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo, who is currently awaiting trial on war crimes charges.
The authorities in Abidjan have said those behind Friday's attacks came from Liberia. Desgroseilliers, of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said at least eight civilians, including a woman, had been killed in Friday's attack, along with the seven peacekeepers from Niger.
"Hundreds of people have arrived in Tai, and one can imagine that thousands of others are on the road," he said, adding that 35 families had crossed the border into Liberia to seek safety there.
"It's real panic here," mayor Desire Gnonkonte told AFP by phone from Tai. "People are taking little bundles and fleeing on foot." 
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Posted by Steve White 2012-06-11 00:00||
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