COTE D'IVOIRE: Forces loyal to Gbagbo launched the offensive on the neighborhood of Abobo

AFP - Forces loyal to Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo continued out a major offensive on Saturday night, including heavy weapons in the neighborhood of Abobo, a stronghold of his rival Alassane Ouattara and nest of insurgents open Abidjan.

Ouattara camp denounced the "indiscriminate killing" of "innocent civilians", describing the operation, the first major since the beginning of the post-election crisis in late November, an "offensive of desperation" of power.

This sharp deterioration of the situation comes two days after a summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa confirmed that the political deadlock: if the AU has recognized as President-elect MrOuattara, Gbagbo's camp has categorically rejected this position.

The offensive was launched on Saturday morning in the area pro-Ouattara Abobo (north of Abidjan) where insurgents are known as "commando invisible" in recent weeks have taken control of large areas.

The objective of the Defence Forces and Security (FDS) loyal to Mr Gbagbo is to "rid Abobo terrorists," said a source at the headquarters."It's make or break," she told AFP.

Most populous district of Abidjan, in the city with some 1.5 million inhabitants, Abobo has become the epicenter of the crisis, which left nearly 400 dead in the country according to the UN.

At around 12:00 (GMT), firing with heavy weapons were heard in Abobo, located north of the residential district of Cocody, one of the centers of power that houses the residence of Mr.Gbagbo.

A resident of Abobo told AFP he had seen in the late morning ride to Abobo four tanks, four troop transports "filled with soldiers," and "two pick-up with mortars.

Another resident saw "two tanks opened a convoy and two which closed drawing, drawing."

In the vicinity of the Gare d'Abobo, "there are exchanges of gunfire from tanks and Kalashnikov," reported a resident of the area, with streets deserted quickly.

By early evening, the fighting continued in various sectors.

In the sub-Dokui Plateau in southern Abobo near Cocody, a resident spoke mortar fire, "we're all locked up at home. No one can escape.It's really terrifying. "

The spokesman for the Gbagbo government, Ahoua Don Mello, admitted qu'Abobo placed under curfew Friday night with the neighboring Anyama, was "full of rebels."

Patrick Achi, government spokesman Ouattara, Gbagbo's camp is "in its logic of indiscriminate killing" because "they are cornered, their backs to the wall. They only have the specter of civil war, to encourage terror ".

"At one kilometer (Abobo), they shoot shells, blindly, falling on civilian houses.The majority of those killed are innocent civilians, they are not military confrontation against soldiers, "he added.

Moreover, a Ghanaian from the UN mission was wounded Saturday in Abidjan when the attack on a civilian vehicle of UNOCI, which burned in Cocody, said the UN force. Several witnesses identified the attackers as "young patriots" pro-Gbagbo.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ouattara chained meetings with its regional allies.After Nigeria, he was expected to Burkina and Senegal.

In an interview Friday night in Abuja, he thanked for its support Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the current president of the Peace and Security of the AU and the Economic Community of West African (ECOWAS).

This regional organization had threatened to end in December to use force to oust Gbagbo.