ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — The United Nations and French forces opened fire with attack helicopters Monday on the arsenal of this country’s entrenched ruler, as columns of foot soldiers finally pierced the city limit and surrounded the strongman’s home.

The fighters aiming to topple Laurent Gbagbo had succeeded in taking nearly the entire countryside in just three days last week, but they faltered once they reached the country’s largest city, where the presidential palace and residence are located.

With the help of the international forces, the armed group fighting to install the country’s democratically elected leader Alassane Ouattara pushed their way to the heart of the city to reach Gbagbo’s home. They have surrounded it, and as of early today they were waiting for him to step down, said a close adviser to Ouattara.

Monday’s offensive, which included air attacks on the ruler’s home as well as three strategic military garrisons, marked an unprecedented escalation in the international community’s efforts to oust Gbagbo, who lost the presidential election in November but has refused to cede power to Ouattara even as the world’s largest cocoa producer teetered on the brink of all-out civil war.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said after briefing the Security Council about the action in Ivory Coast on Monday that the international forces had targeted areas around the presidential palace where Gbagbo’s forces were using heavy weaponry.

“There is no point to firing at the presidential palace if there are no heavy weapons,” he said. “But we are seeing the heavy weapons very close and that is what we are firing on.”

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The postelection violence has left hundreds dead — most of them Ouattara supporters — and forced up to 1 million people to flee. Ouattara has used his considerable international clout to financially and diplomatically suffocate Gbagbo and pro-Gbagbo forces before launching a dramatic military assault.

On Monday, the U.N. fired on the Akouedo military base at around 5 p.m. local time to prevent Gbagbo’s forces from using heavy weapons against civilians, said spokesman for the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations Nick Birnback.

Explosions resonated from the city’s downtown core a few blocks from the presidential palace, and those living nearby barricaded their windows with mattresses. Flames could be seen licking the sky above the home of the staunchly pro-Gbagbo Republican Guard.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement that he had authorized the 1,600-strong French Licorne force based here to help in the operation following an appeal from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said that the use of force was necessary to prevent further attacks on civilians.

“In the past few days, forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo have intensified and escalated their use of heavy weapons such as mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns against the civilian population in Abidjan,” Ban said.

 

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