Ivory Coast government calls on attackers to disarm

ABIDJAN (AFP) - Ivory Coast Prime Minister Jeannot Kouadio Ahoussou called on the perpetrators of attacks against the army to disarm and not block the country's "revival", according to a statement received Saturday.

"The government firmly condemns these acts of extraordinary violence," Ahoussou said in the statement.

"Military authorities are hard at work to curb these waves of violence."

Recent attacks in and around Abidjan have sparked a sharp rise in tension more than a year after the post-electoral crisis of December 2010 to April 2011 claimed 3,000 lives.

But some residents "still believe that the solution to their problems comes through guns and violence", Ahoussou said, adding that the attacks attempt to spread fear and deter investment in the country currently on the path of "revival".

He also called for dialogue and said the government would establish "listening missions" across the country.

On Thursday, armed men attacked an army base, a prison and police stations near Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan in the latest of a series of assaults.