birdzwss

Daily gunfire spurred by Laurent Gbagbo’s efforts to stay in power after losing a presidential election in November
Buy nike running shoes online has pushed thousands of residents out of neighborhoods surrounding the city’s central districts, while the closing of banks and businesses have led to widespread unemployment.

“The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fueled by fears of all-out war,” a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told reporters Friday in Geneva, estimating that 700,000 to one million people had already left their homes.

“Bus terminals are overcrowded with passengers desperate to get seats on vehicles heading to northern, central and eastern parts of the country where there has been no fighting so far,” an agency spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, said.

In Abidjan, Mr. Gbagbo’s security forces have waged an armed campaign against neighborhoods loyal to the man recognized by international bodies as the winner of the presidential election, Alassane Ouattara, killing at least 25 people with mortar shells at a market last week, the United Nations said.

This month, unarmed demonstrators against his rule were mowed down with machine-gun fire. Guerilla fighters have waged attacks against Mr. Gbagbo’s forces in Abidjan, while civilians, caught in the cross-fire, are now deserting neighborhoods wholesale. fashion 2011 nike running shoes

The United Nations and African political bodies have been unable to stop the attacks on civilians, despite the presence of a large United Nations peacekeeping force in Abidjan and repeated visits to the city by political leaders from across the continent seeking to mediate a settlement.

At the United Nations, France and Nigeria are calling for additional sanctions on Mr. Gbagbo and his inner circle — to add to those imposed late last year by the European Union and the United States — as well as a ban on heavy weapons use in Abidjan.

The United Nations estimates that nearly 500 people have been killed since the election; Mr. Ouattara puts the figure at nearly double that. The mortar attack last week may amount to “crimes against humanity,” the United Nations said, but a spokesman for Mr. Gbagbo later riposted with a blast against “Western media” for spreading “false information,” warning that international journalists there would be considered a “media extension of prevailing terrorism.” buy Reebok EasyTone online

Fighting in the western part of Ivory Coast has also displaced tens of thousands of residents, according to the United Nations and aid agencies, as fighters loyal to Mr. Ouattara skirmish with militias and troops tied to Mr. Gbagbo.

Towns near the Liberian border have been deserted by people fleeing to the neighboring country, the United Nations said, and there has been looting, rape and killing of civilians in the region.