By Ange Aboa and Tim Cocks
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Explosions rocked a southern Abidjan suburb overnight and on Wednesday, as fighting between insurgents seeking to oust Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo and security forces spread to new areas of the main city.
Residents of Koumassi said the gunfire had stopped by early afternoon and some people were venturing outside their houses but at least two people had been killed in the shooting.
Security in the country is deteriorating, with gun battles between rival forces most of last week and hostilities resuming across a north-south cease-fire line that had been largely quiet since a 2002-2003 war ended in stalemate.
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, has been in turmoil since a disputed November election between Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara, who won the poll according to U.N.-certified results that Gbabgo has refused to accept.
"It was hot this morning between the soldiers and the youths of the "Campement" neighbourhood who were armed," said Martin Kolia, a telephone seller in Koumassi.
"But things have quietened down this afternoon. We are not hearing any more shooting and people are starting to come out of their houses to move around the neighbourhood," he added.
Abou Traore, a Koumassi resident, said he saw two bodies of civilians who had been killed by stray bullets.
As with other clashes, it was not possible to get an official toll for the fighting.
Aside from some clashes in Adjame, which is closer to the central business district, most of the fighting has been restricted to the northern pro-Ouattara suburb of Abobo.
An insurgent force calling itself the invisible commandos has seized control of most of Abobo and forced out pro-Gbagbo security forces.
On Tuesday, youthful supporters of Gbagbo's rampaged through the business district of Abidjan, pillaging shops owned by foreigners.
The supporters, who are known as "Young Patriots" and have frequently targeted foreigners over the years, have stepped up attacks on U.N. peacekeepers since a call by their leader at the weekend to stop U.N. forces from moving around the country.
In a move that is likely to fuel anti-U.N. sentiment spread by the pro-Gbagbo media, a senior U.N. official apologised on Wednesday for mistaken U.N. allegations that an illegal shipment of attack helicopters had been delivered to Gbagbo from Belarus.
The office of U.N. Secretary-General General Ban Ki-moon made the charge in a statement on Monday, saying the "first delivery arrived reportedly." It declared that the transfer was "a serious violation of the embargo ... in place since 2004."
BANKS TARGETED
November's election was meant to heal divisions sown by the civil war that left the country divided into a rebel-run north and government-run south, but the dispute has worsened divisions and killed well over 300 people since November.
Cocoa futures have surged to 30-year highs.
The U.N. says the number of Ivorian refugees in Liberia has reached 68,000, with another 40,000 internally displaced.
The crisis has had a catastrophic impact on Ivory Coast's economy, with international banks shutting down, shops shuttering up and bars and restaurants empty at night.
Gbagbo's government has started paying salaries this week and he has targeted the Ivorian branches of Societe Generale and BNP Paribas for nationalisation as part of his efforts to keep the economy afloat.
"Societe Generale strongly condemns the illegal seizure of its subsidiary in Ivory Coast, SGBCI, and the coercion of its staff," Societe Generale said in a statement.
"Neither SGBCI nor Societe Generale Group can be considered legally bound by any acts committed in the name of and for the account of SGBCI, by persons so appointed," it added.
(Additional reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Writing by David Lewis and Tim Cocks; editing by Michael Roddy)
