Mutinous soldiers block access to Bouake on day two of revolt

The mutiny by former rebels in the Ivory Coast has entered its second day with the mutinous soldiers blocking access to the country’s second largest city, Bouake as gunfire rang out in other towns on Saturday.

The revolt over a pay dispute which began on Friday in Bouake, quickly spread to other cities including the commercial capital Abidjan where the mutineers took control of the national military headquarters and the defence ministry.

The soldiers are protesting delayed bonus payments promised by the government after a mutiny in January.

The government was to pay each of the 8,400 troops bonuses of about $8,000 as part of a deal to end the mutiny. They were due to receive further payment this month.

But on Thursday, a spokesman for the mutinous soldiers announced that the group had dropped their demand following a meeting with authorities in Abidjan.

The announcement however angered a section of the group who have revived the mutiny.

On Friday, shots were fired in the air at bases in Abidjan, Bondoukou in the east, Bouaké in the centre, and Korhogo in the north, the BBC reports.

The mutiny has raised fears of a resurgence of the violence witnessed during Ivory Coast’s 10-year civil war, which ended in 2011.