Fears And Flight As Ivory Coast Braces For Vote

Abidjan, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2020 ) :When fighting broke out between rival Ivorian factions 10 years ago, Veronique Yao left it late to flee Abidjan to her home town, a three-hour bus ride away.

Two days before Ivory Coast's Saturday election, she was taking no chances.

Yao and her young son packed their suitcases and joined other passengers jostling onto buses out of Abidjan, fearing a repeat of the 2010-2011 crisis when fighting turned the city into a battleground and left 3,000 dead.

President Alassane Ouattara's decision to run for a third term has been rejected by the opposition, triggering sporadic clashes between rival communities. In Abidjan, some are fleeing the city; others are preparing to hunker down and stock up on provisions.

"I don't want to live again what we lived though in 2010," Yao, a street seller, said before boarding for the central town of Tiebissou on Thursday.