... According to reports by the International Committee of the Red Cross and other aid agencies at least 800 people were killed in the Duékoué fighting. While details are sketchy, most victims appear to have been from the local Guéré community, traditionally Gbagbo supporters.
Some Duékoué residents contacted by IRIN blamed the killings on farmers living in encampments outside Duékoué - on land they have worked for decades - whom the Guéré have sought to oust since Gbagbo’s arrival in power.
Gbagbo sought to annul land leases to Burkinabé, Baoulé and other groups working the coffee and cocoa plantations, in favour of previous Guéré owners and their descendants. “These killings were a settling of scores,” one Guéré man said. “People came and killed the [mainly Wobé and Guéré] landowners.” Residents said people came to the town after the FRCI, armed primarily with hunting rifles and machetes ...
Most of the killings reportedly were in the Carréfour neighbourhood - known as a base for pro-Gbagbo militia. Residents said the militia had fled and innocent civilians were left behind. “[Groups who work the land] are taking advantage of the presence of the FRCI to eliminate as many [locals] as possible in order to control the land,” said one of the thousands of residents who have sought refuge at the Catholic mission in Duékoué.
Residents said all homes in Carréfour were burned and homes in other neighbourhoods pillaged.
Residents of Duékoué said two days after the killings the new FRCI authorities sent a griot - a traditional West African poet, musician and storyteller - through the town calling for calm, urging people to return to their normal activities and stressing the town was now secure. But the griot also passed on strong warnings: “Anyone found armed but not belonging to the FRCI will be disarmed. Anyone caught stealing will be killed, without exception.”
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In June 2005 dozens of mainly Guéré villagers were attacked in night raids on two nearby villages, Petit Duékoué and Guitrozon. Houses were set ablaze and men, women and children hacked to death.
Some accused the Dozo, traditional hunter warriors attached to the Malinké community and seen by many as proxy soldiers for the rebels - accusations that have resurfaced after the recent killings ...
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