By Ange Aboa
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - At least five people were killed in clashes between supporters of Ivory Coast's presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara and forces loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan on Tuesday, a Reuters reporter saw.
The West African nation, the world's top cocoa producer, has been in turmoil since a disputed presidential election in November that both men claim to have won.
Witnesses said clashes broke out early on Tuesday and continued for hours. Protests in Ivory Coast, whether pro-Gbagbo or his enemies, are sometimes infiltrated by gunmen.
Two bodies of protesters and three police lay in the streets, all with gunshot wounds, following protests in the predominantly pro-Ouattara neighbourhood of Abobo, as hundreds of police and military backed with armoured vehicles and machine guns patrolled.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard across the neighbourhood.
"There was shooting all over the place for hours," said student Ouattara Idrissa, 20, an Abobo resident. "We couldn't go out. We hid in our houses and only now are we safe to come out."
Violence has killed more than 200 people since the poll, according to U.N. figures.
Bloody protests and a brief gun battle between pro-Ouattara and pro-Gbagbo forces erupted last month, but there have been few civil disturbances since, partly because Ouattara's supporters are terrified of being killed.
Electoral commission results certified by the U.N. mission showed Ouattara had won with an eight point margin, but the pro-Gbagbo Constitutional Council overturned the results, alleging fraud. The move has been rejected almost unanimously by world leaders and regional bodies, including the African Union.
(Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by David Lewis/Maria Golovnina)
