His rival Alassane Ouattara has called for Egypt-style mass protests to oust Gbagbo, who has refused to step down after a Nov. 28 presidential election that UN-certified results show Ouattara won.
Witnesses said around 200 youths gathered in Abobo, a pro-Ouattara area of the main commercial city Abidjan, but soldiers and police broke them up. Abobo has often been the scene of violent clashes between security forces and civilians.
“The oppositions youths started assembling at the roundabout this morning. The security forces came in armored vehicles and fired teargas and bullets into the air,” said Tieba Doumbia, 30, who owns a small shop nearby.
One of the teargas grenades landed in a local market, forcing dozens of women to flee, he said. There was no immediate comment from Ivory coast’s military or police.
The army imposed a night-time curfew across the country this weekend that will be lifted at 0600 GMT on Sunday.
Gbagbo has defied widespread international condemnation and Western sanctions by clinging to power, with backing from a pro-Gbabgo legal body that overturned Ouattara’s win and the military, which has entrenched his position and crushed dissent.
West Africa’s central bank has cut him off, triggering a liquidity crisis that has forced international banks to close up shop. Gbagbo decreed this week that the main ones are to be forcibly nationalized and re-opened on Monday.
Paramilitary forces loyal Gbagbo killed at least six civilians in Abobo last week. At least 300 have been killed in violence since the disputed election, mostly Ouattara supporters killed by pro-Gbagbo forces, the United Nations says.
“A military vehicle drove toward the protesters. They fired in the air to disperse them. I didn’t see any deaths for the moment,” said witness Ladgi Traore, 28, a newspaper seller.
