Cote d’Ivoire Residents Subject to Frequent Attacks by Armed Gangs: HRW

People living, working, and traveling in northern Cote d'Ivoire are being terrorized by armed men, according to the statement of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

MOSCOW, December 15 (Sputnik) — Residents of Africa's Cote d'Ivoire are subject to frequent violent attacks by armed gangs and the country’s security forces are failing to respond adequately, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday.

"People living, working, and traveling in northern Cote d'Ivoire are being terrorized by armed men who appear to operate with little fear of being stopped, much less prosecuted," Corinne Dufka, West Africa director at the organization, said in a statement. "The Ivorian government needs to protect people against these relentless and often violent attacks," she added.

According to HRW, attacks are mainly committed by the former combatants in the country's north who rob or spray buses and private vehicles on the roads with bullets.

Such attacks were widespread in 2011 and 2012. In 2014, there have been at least 15 violent assaults.

Local security authorities cite a lack of resources to respond promptly to the attacks and investigate cases, the watchdog reported.

As a result of the First Ivorian Civil War in 2002, the country split into the rebel-backed Muslim north and the pro-government Christian south. In 2009, former rebels handed over control of the northern zones to civilian administrators. After the 2011 post-election impasse former combatants remained largely present in the north. The fighters have not been disarmed.