Côte d'Ivoire: Latent risk of ethnic violence in the west

Event

Intercommunal violence erupted between members of the Yacouba ethnic group and the Malinké community in the city of Zouan-Hounien (Tonkpi region ; Montagne district) on November 21, following the death of a student on November 16. At least five people were killed and 141 others injured. As of November 29, calm has been restored in the area. The incident underlines generally poor security conditions and ethnic tensions in the western regions of the country.

Context

Unrest erupted after a student, who attempted to climb onto a cacao transportation truck to get a ride to his village, was beaten to death, prompting violent student protests in the area. Clashes quickly escalated into an ethnic conflict, the first kind for 15 years according to the mayor.

Due to tensions between ethnic groups and occasional outbreaks of deadly violence, some Western governments advise against nonessential travel to the southwest (Cavally, Guémon, Tonkpi, Nawa, San-pédro, and Gbôklé regions).

Advice

Individuals in the western parts of the country are advised to remain vigilant at all times, avoid protests, and obey all instructions issued by the local authorities.

On a separate note, some Western governments also advise against travel to the border region with Liberia due to the presence of transnational armed groups that formed, in part, during the Ivorian and Liberian civil wars. This zone includes the cities of Tabou, Taï, and Grabo, where the military was attacked by armed men in mid-January 2015.