The situation in Abidjan, the capital of Cote d'Ivoire, remains volatile, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said here on Monday.
"Patrols from the UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) conducted last Friday and Saturday confirmed the use of mortars and heavy machine guns in the city's Abobo neighborhood by pro-Gbagbo forces, " Nesirky said at a daily news briefing.
Elsewhere in the city there have been numerous instances where UN vehicles and staff have been targeted. A UN-marked bus was damaged by stone-throwing demonstrators on Sunday, the UN spokesman said.
UNOCI also reported fresh fighting in Duekoue, which is situated in the West of the West African country, where the Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (FRCI) continue to push east and locals have gathered at UNOCI premises seeking protection.
As many as 1 million people have been driven from their homes in Cote d'Ivoire in the months of turmoil stemming from the outgoing president's refusal to leave office, with violence mounting and his loyalists using heavy weapons against civilians.
With Cote d'Ivoire "very close" to civil war, France and Nigeria circulated a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that will include sanctions against incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo and his close advisors, which will be negotiated next week, French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said here Friday.
"We are facing a humanitarian tragedy in Cote d'Ivoire," Araud, the French permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters here after a Security Council meeting on the deteriorating situation in the West African country.
The draft resolution distributed demands a pull back of all heavy weapons from Abidjan since Gbagbo's forces have used mortars against the civilian population, Araud said.
Since Nov. 28, 2010, Cote d'Ivoire has been torn apart between two presidents, the country's electoral body in December 2010 declared Outtara as winner of the presidential election, but incumbent President Gbagbo who was declared as the winner by the Constitutional Council has refused to hand over power.
Forces loyal to Gbagbo have attacked civilians and UN peacekeepers, killing more than 460 people and displacing an estimated 500,000, causing them to become internally displaced persons (IDPs) or refugees in countries like Liberia.