By Media Coulibaly and Ange Aboa
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Forces loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo moved in on an area of Abidjan on Wednesday where armed supporters of his rival had repelled them in a gun battle the day before, killing up to 15.
Reuters witnesses saw civilians fleeing as security forces in military vehicles deployed at the outskirts of the neighbourhood of Abobo, where residents said plainclothes men had taken up firing positions with AK 47 assault rifles.
Gun battles between security forces and supporters of Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara rocked Abobo throughout most of Tuesday -- a day when African presidents aiming to defuse the power struggle in the world's top cocoa grower were visiting both camps to propose a solution.
An election that was meant to set the seal on Ivory Coast's peace deal and allow it to be reunited after a 2002-3 war is looking increasingly likely to reignite the conflict.
More than 300 people have been killed since the poll and the standoff has paralysed the economy of Ivory Coast, propelling cocoa futures to 32-year highs on Wednesday.
Gbagbo has defied international sanctions and pressure to stand down, and is backed by a military that has crushed dissent in a series of bloody crackdowns. His loyalists say they have been provoked by armed supporters of Ouattara, who won the election according to U.N.-certified results.
An Ivorian army source said paramilitary police were ambushed on Tuesday even by armed Ouattara supporters.
"We're talking about 10 to 15 deaths, essentially gendarmes, who were taken in an ambush yesterday at 6 p.m. British time, in battles with civilians firing Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades," he said.
"We are waiting orders to definitively put an end to this insurrection."
The body of a civilian lay in the road near the battle scene, the tropical rain rinsing his blood into a red puddle.
Residents fled the area, men carrying suitcases by their side and women carrying food or belongings on their heads.
"We have no idea what is going on. All we know is we can't stay here in this mess," a male resident told Reuters TV as he walked past carrying his luggage.
Other witnesses said security forces fired to disperse protesters in downtown Abidjan's Treichville district.
AU TO RECONVENE
Military spokesman Colonel Babri Gohourou told state TV on that at least one soldier was killed and two gendarmes vanished on Tuesday, but added that the army had killed two "rebels."
A Reuters reporter in Abobo said there was some sporadic shooting on Wednesday but the situation was largely calm.
The presidents of South Africa, Chad, Mauritania and Tanzania were in Abidjan for two days this week on an African Union (AU) mission to seek a solution to the crisis.
All had left by Wednesday afternoon. An AU statement said they would reconvene in the Mauritanian capital "in the coming days" but expectations of a breakthrough were low.
In a further sign that Gbagbo was digging in, and with February salaries due soon, his government has said it would open two nationalised French banks later this week or next.
Gbagbo's camp has earmarked the Ivorian branches of Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, two of many foreign banks to have suspended operations, for nationalisation.
Analysts doubt he will be able to make them work, since he has been cut off from West Africa's central bank system.
(Additional reporting by Ange Aboa and Luc Gnago; Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by David Lewis and Jon Boyle)
