1,000 killed or 'disappeared' in west Ivory Coast town: Caritas

Catholic charity says 1,000 people had been killed or 'disappeared' in the western Ivory Coast town of Duekoue.

ABIDJAN: Catholic charity Caritas said in a statement Saturday that 1,000 people had been killed or 'disappeared' in the western Ivory Coast town of Duekoue, where mass graves were reported found after heavy fighting.

The town was seized by fighters supporting president-in-waiting Alassane Ouattara after fierce battles on Tuesday, and reports have emerged of a grisly massacre and discovery of mass graves.

"Caritas teams visiting Duekoue in Ivory Cost are reporting a thousand people have been killed there or 'disappeared'," the charity said in a statement on its website.

Ouattara's forces were fighting to oust backers of strongman Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down after losing November elections.

"The massacre took place in the 'Carrefour' quarter of town, controlled by pro-Ouattara forces, during clashes on Sunday 27 March to Tuesday 29 March," the statement read.

Caritas does not know who was responsible for the killing, but said a proper investigation must take place to establish the truth.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that at least 800 people were killed in one day in what appeared to be an incident of inter-ethnic violence "particularly shocking by its size and brutality".

"At least 800 people were killed in Duekoue on Tuesday," an ICRC spokeswoman in Geneva, Dorothea Krimitsas, told AFP, adding that information on the deaths had been gathered by Red Cross representatives who visited the area on Thursday and Friday.

"There is no doubt that something on a large scale took place in this city, on which the ICRC is continuing to gather information," she said, adding that Red Cross representatives had "themselves seen a very large number of bodies".

Guillaume N'Gefa from the human rights division of the UN mission in the country told AFP that of 330 killed in the town earlier this week, most were victims of Ouattara forces but over 100 were killed by pro-Gbagbo troops.

"330 people were killed between Monday and Wednesday... the majority were executed by 'dozos'", said N'Gefa, referring to traditional hunters fighting in Ouattara's army.