In 2004, an armed conflict took place between French and Côte d'Ivoire forces. On 6 November 2004, two Ivorian Air force Su-25 attack fighters launched an air attack on French peacekeepers in the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire who were stationed there as part of ''
Opération Licorne
Opération Licorne was a French Armed Forces peacekeeping operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire. The French forces had been stationed in the country since shortly after the outbreak of the Ivorian Civil War. T ...
'' (Unicorn), the
French military
The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces.
France ...
operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI). French military forces subsequently clashed with Ivorian troops and government-loyal mobs, almost destroying the entire Ivorian Air Force. Those incidents were followed by massive anti-French protests in Côte d'Ivoire.
Background
In 2002, a civil war broke out in Côte d'Ivoire between Ivorian military and other forces loyal to
Laurent Gbagbo
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo , FPI website . ( Ivorian president since 2000, and rebel forces identified with the Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire. Although most of the fighting ended by late 2004, the country remained split in two, with a rebel-held north and a government-held south.
Ivorian attack on French forces
On 4 November 2004, Gbagbo ordered the counter-offensive to the rebel town of
Bouaké
Bouaké (or Bwake, N’ko: ߓߐ߰ߞߍ߫ ''Bɔ̀ɔkɛ́'') is the second-largest city in Ivory Coast, with a population of 740,000 (2021 census). It is the seat of three levels of subdivision— Vallée du Bandama District, Gbêkê Region, and Bo ...
to be backed by air strikes. France did not directly react, but on 5 November moved three Dassault Mirage F.1 jet fighters based in nearby
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...
on standby.
On 6 November, two Ivorian Sukhoi Su-25
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
s, crewed by two Belarusian mercenaries and two Ivorian pilots, fired on the Ivorian rebels led by Issiaka Ouattara. One of the bombers attacked the French peacekeeping position in the town at 1 pm, killing nine French soldiers and wounding 40."Ivory Coast seethes after attack" BBC News, 7 November 2004. An American soil scientist was also killed. Two French peacekeeping vehicles were destroyed. The Ivorian government claimed the attack on the French was unintentional, but the French insisted that the attack had been deliberate.Ann Talbot "Ivory Coast: protests erupt vs. French military strikes" World Socialist Web Site, 9 November 2004.
Retaliation by the French and subsequent riots
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Jacques Chirac ordered the destruction of both two Ivorian jets responsible for the attack. At 2:20 pm, the Su-25s landed at Abidjan airport and were damaged by
MILAN
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
missiles fired by soldiers of the
2nd Marine Infantry Regiment
The 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 2e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 2e RIMa) is an infantry regiment of the Troupes de marine in the French Army, the only regiment to bear 16 battle honours inscriptions of the regimental colors. The re ...
, garrisoned at the airport. The French were then attacked by an Ivorian
Mil Mi-24
The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been ...
helicopter gunship, but repelled it with machine gun fire.
At 3 pm, armed mobs of Ivorians loyal to the government took to the streets of Abidjan to protest against France and began to mass near the airport and near the base. At Abidjan's airport, French and Ivorian troops exchanged fire, and a French
Transall C-160
The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, and ...
military transport plane was damaged by RPGs at 4 pm. Two remaining Ivorian Su-25s, one
BAC Strikemaster
The BAC 167 Strikemaster is a British jet-powered training and light attack aircraft. It was a development of the Hunting Jet Provost trainer, itself a jet engined version of the Percival Provost, which originally flew in 1950 with a radial pi ...
and one Mi-8 were damaged while three helicopters (2 Mi-24 and 1 IAR 330 Puma) were completely destroyed on direct orders from General , before Ivorian protesters entered the
terminal
Terminal may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together
* Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line
* Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output dev ...
.
On 7 November, thousands of Ivorian loyalists attacked a French school and army base. Crowds of young Ivorians attacked a residential district made up of French citizens, which had to be evacuated by airlift as mobs burst into their apartment buildings. Armored cars carried armed protesters to join the fight, and French helicopters flew over Abidjan and dropped concussion grenades, while French armored vehicles carried troops to put down the riots. Protesters erected burning roadblocks, and French gunboats were positioned beneath the bridges. Fighting continued, and, by Sunday, French forces were still not in control of the city. As the riots in the streets continued, French soldiers opened fire on Ivorian rioters; the French government stated that 20 were killed while Ivorian authorities placed the death toll at 60. At Duékoué and in the northern suburbs of Abidjan, French reinforcements and Ivorian troops exchanged fire, and Ivorian soldiers and civilians were killed.
French forces evacuated nearly 5,000 foreign nationals from Ivory Coast in the first half of November. The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed an arms embargo on the country on 15 November 2004.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier stated President Gbagbo was "personally responsible for what has happened", and declared that the violence was "unexplainable, unjustifiable". Ivorian National Assembly President Mamadou Koulibaly told state television: "Ivory Coast has become an overseas territory in Jacques Chirac’s head".
Aftermath
France reportedly let the two foreign pilots leave the country in a group consisting of fifteen Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian mercenaries. Questions were subsequently raised about possible French manipulation. In April 2021, a French tribunal issued life sentences, in absentia, to one Belarusian mercenary pilot and two Ivorian co-pilots for the attacks.
Côte d'Ivoire had begun rebuilding its air force with help from
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
a year after the French attack. On 2005 UN gave permission to Ivorian government for the transport and repairs of both heavily damaged Su-25, one Strikemaster and one Mi-24. The assorted equipment of the aircraft were discovered at the former residence of
Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...
by
Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)post-electoral conflict which saw Gbagbo ousted.
French judge issued an international arrest warrant for the two pilots suspected of the bombing, Patrice Ouei and Ange-Magloire Gnanduillet, in January 2006. An Ivorian military court was also seeking to find former defence minister Rene Amani and the former head of the loyalist army, , over the bombing. By 2008, relations between Côte d'Ivoire and France had returned to normal, with French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner being the first French foreign minister to visit since 2004.