Cocoa businesses, banks and government buildings in Ivory Coast's western cocoa hub, Daloa, were shut on Monday, residents said, amid gunfire linked to a four-day nationwide army mutiny."All businesses are closed here in Daloa.
The banks are closed and so are the cocoa buying businesses," said Aka Marcel, a farmer cooperative manager in Daloa. "The soldiers are in the streets on foot and on motorbikes. They're shooting in the air."
Heavy gunfire erupted on Monday at the entrance and centre of Ivory Coast's second city of Bouake, witnesses said.
The shooting followed similar bursts of gunfire in the commercial capital Abidjan amid a military operation aimed at ending a mutiny by soldiers demanding bonus payments.
"I've been hearing the sound of Kalashnikovs and a heavier weapon. That began at around 5 a.m. (0500 GMT) and it's lasted an hour. It's intense," said one Abidjan resident, who lives near the U.S. embassy and the presidential residence.
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