UN to aid Cote d'Ivoire troops in fighting against armed groups

United Nations peacekeepers and the Cote d'Ivoire army have agreed on the need to carry out joint operations against armed groups operating along the country's main highways, a source from the UN mission in the country said Sunday.

A senior UN official said the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI) will train Cote d'Ivoire troops to enhance their capacity so that both forces can carry out joint operations on the ground.

"We need to equip Cote d'Ivoire security forces and help them understand the phenomenon of armed gangs, commonly referred to as 'highway robbers,' so that we can intervene systematically while also respecting human rights," ONUCI officer lieutenant Christophe Ledoussal said.

ONUCI's second officer Lt. Adam Jean-Michel said it was important to equip Cote d'Ivoire's gendarmes and give them the necessary expertise.

"This will enable them to become trainers and experts after the departure of the UN peacekeepers," Jean-Michel reaffirmed.

Elsewhere, Cote d'Ivoire's security authorities have hailed the harmony and interaction between UN and Cote d'Ivoire forces, in the push for the country's pacification.

"It is necessary for the gendarmes to reinforce their operational capacity to be more effective in the fight against crime on the ground," commander of the fifth legion of Cote d'Ivoire's gendarmerie lieutenant-colonel Jules Akpo Koua said.

The 2010-2011 post-election crisis that was witnessed in Cote d'Ivoire resulted in increased proliferation of illegal weapons which are used by gangs to cause insecurity in most regions of the country.

Heavily armed gangsters always lay ambush on major roads in the country, attacking passenger vehicles and sometimes even official convoys.

To fight against the phenomenon, Cote d'Ivoire government recently deployed an elite army squad in various regions of the country. Endi