Poisoned Ivory

Africa | A civil war resumes in Ivory Coast, and thousands of Westerners — including missionaries — must flee | Priya Abraham

Since Ivory Coast's last coup two years ago, teachers and students at the International Christian Academy (ICA) have learned to keep "evacuation bags" ready at the first sign of civil strife. In early November, their planning proved necessary.

Hearing the government's Russian-made Sukhoi-25 jets scream over the campus—located just outside the city of Bouake in the nation's rebel-held north—leaders of the missionary school sensed something big was brewing. When the jets bombed security checkpoints and rebel facilities on Nov. 4, then struck a French base and killed nine peacekeepers, they knew they would have to flee again just as they did in 2002.

The French, who for two years have tried to keep peace between north and south, responded to the shock strike against their troops by wiping out Ivory Coast's tiny Air Force earlier this month. Just as ICA teachers and students prepared to leave, the crisis spread from north to south in the commercial capital, Abidjan. For five days mobs loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo went on an anti-French rampage, looting and burning property.