Action in Ivory Coast

The French are unilaterally going after government forces in Ivory Coast

France waded into the Ivory Coast crisis by giving the green light to French troops to use military force to remove weapons from pro-Gbagbo forces.

President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday authorized French troops in Ivory Coast to use military force against fighters loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo as violence escalated in the worn-torn country.

The French government agreed to a request by the United Nations to assist in its peacekeeping mission of protecting civilians and removing Gbagbo of heavy weapons. The move by France came on the fourth day of a major battle between rival forces in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital of Abidjan.

By: Brant