The UN secretary general has urged Ivory Coast’s internationally-backed president to investigate hundreds of deaths blamed partly on his supporters.
Ban Ki-moon said he was “concerned and alarmed” about the reports, from the town of Duekoue, but Alassane Ouattara said his followers were not involved.
The BBC’s Andrew Harding, in Duekoue, says UN workers have found hundreds of bodies.
In the main city of Abidjan, fighting has continued between rival troops.
Mr Ouattara’s forces have beaten back supporters of his rival, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, to a few key locations.
UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure told the BBC he had heard gunfire near the presidential palace, currently held by Mr Gbagbo, adding that the situation was very tense.
The airport, which had been secured by UN troops since Friday, is now under the control of French troops, allowing it to re-open.
There were reports that the UN was evacuating around 200 employees from Abidjan.
But the city’s pro-Gbagbo TV station called for people to mobilise against what it called a French ‘”occupation”.
Mr Ouattara’s forces are reported to be planning a further advance towards the presidential palace and have imposed a curfew on the city. (BBC)
