ABIDJAN (AFP) - Two Ivory Coast military aircraft carried out a second raid on Bouake, the stronghold of the former rebel New Forces (FN) in the divided west African country, a French military source told AFP.
At least one military aircraft had earlier strafed a checkpoint on the outskirts of the central Ivory Coast town, slightly injuring several people in what the FN called "a very serious act".
The FN military commander for the Bouake sector, Cherif Ousmane, described Thursday's first raid on Bouake as a "very serious act", telling AFP by telephone that "we think the civilian population is being targeted".
French and UN troops are monitoring a fragile ceasefire signed by both sides in the war as part of plans to reform the political system and reunite the country, where civil war broke out in September 2002.
The Sukhoi 25 fighter-bombers attacked at around 11:20 am (1120 GMT), about four hours after the earlier raid, the French military source said, without being able to give details of where the bombs were dropped or of possible casualties.
The military general staff in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast's economic capital, could not be reached for comment, but the army's press service said a statement would be issued at around 1300 GMT.
Telephone lines to Bouake were down from around 11:00 am.
The FN last week declared a "state of maximum alert" and slapped a nighttime curfew on towns under its control on announcing that they had found truckloads of heavy weaponry near Bouake.
The FN accused Gbagbo's side of seeking to infiltrate arms through to fighters behind rebel lines.
Gbagbo's office on October 17 categorically denied the accusations, while the regular army closed two main roads between southern and northern Ivory Coast.
Friction between President Laurent Gbagbo's supporters and the ex-rebels led both rebel and political opposition leaders to stay away from an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Wednesday, according to an official statement.
Since a rebel insurgency began in September 2002, the country has been split in two, with the south under government control and the north and parts of the west in rebel hands.
A UN mission and French troops patrol ceasefire lines established after a framework peace accord was signed in January 2003 and led to a full ceasefire agreement on the ground, signed the following July 4.
"The absence of the ministers does not prevent the holding of a cabinet meeting," said the communique, noting that decisions were rendered valid under the constitution by the "presence of the president of the republic".
FN leader Guillaume Soro and other top officials were Wednesday in Togo for talks with President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who is mediating, and stressed that they wanted peace.
"It's imperative for the FN to take steps to ensure hostilities do not resume," Soro said after the Lome talks. "We're ready to jump through hoops to save the reconciliation process."
On Wednesday, those at the cabinet meeting agreed on texts now due to go to parliament concerning "special dispensations" on Ivorian citizenship and a new code of nationality.
Both issues are sensitive in a country which long took in immigrants from other west African nations to work on cocoa plantations. Ethnic trouble and the right to Ivorian nationality were among political factors that exploded into civil war.
FN spokesman Sidiki Konate said they were also pulling out of a process to disarm some 30,000 rebel fighters and had been due to start on October 16.
He added, however, that the recall of the ministers did not "signify a rupture with Abidjan."
The FN has refused to lay down its weapons until a series of political reforms are passed.

11/04/2004 - 13:14 GMT - AFP