YAMOUSSOUKRO Mutinying soldiers sealed off Ivory Coast’s second-largest city on Friday as senior government and military officials inside sought to head off a repeat of an army revolt that paralysed much of the West African nation last week.
A soldier with the mutiny said the main accesses to Bouake, a city of a half million residents, had been seized and would be held until a solution to the standoff with the government was found.
“The entrance to the city is blocked. There are some people who tried to leave for Abidjan a little while ago and had to return (to Bouake),” said a resident who asked not to be named.
(Reporting by Ange Aboa, Writing by Joe Bavier, Editing by Angus MacSwan)