Ivorian army accused of truce violation

French troops said there was no evidence of rebel attacks

Rebels in Ivory Coast say many people have been killed and injured, after army helicopter gunships have attacked rebel-held area in the north of the country.

There is no independent confirmation of the claims of the attack around the front-line town of Vavoua, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) north-west of the country's commercial capital, Abidjan.

There were many dead and injured among the civilians. I've got four dead bodies here with me

Ivorian rebel commander

French troops - who are monitoring the truce - say they will send a team to the area to check the evidence.

The BBC's Paul Welsh in Abidjan says that if confirmed, it would be the first breach of the truce since it was signed almost six weeks ago.

Earlier the French denied claims by the Ivorian military that the rebels had staged an attack in the west of the country.

Meanwhile, the main opposition leader, Alassane Ouattara, has left Ivory Coast after spending two months sheltering at the French ambassador's residence in Abidjan.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told journalists he has gone to Gabon.

President Laurent Gbagbo's government has accused Mr Ouattara of organising and financing the rebellion, and recently described him as a "bone of contention" between Ivory Coast and France.

The opposition has denied the allegations and blamed the ruling party for failing to solve the crisis.

Chocolate town

One of the rebel commanders, Zacharias Kone, told the Reuters news agency from Vavoua that he believed at least 40 people had been killed in the attacks on three towns.

"There were many dead and injured among the civilians. I've got four dead bodies here with me," he said.

The rebels' claims came shortly after the Ivorian army had accused them of advancing in 20 vehicles across a key bridge early on Wednesday to within 70km to the main north-western town of Man.

"The armed forces consider this attack as a step too far and have decided to act immediately," Lieutenant-Colonel Jules Yao Yao said in a televised statement.

The rebels denied launching an attack, and French troops said they had found no evidence of an alleged rebel violation of the truce.

Man is an important city in the cocoa industry about 500km (310 miles) north-west of Abidjan.

Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa - the raw ingredient of chocolate.

Bloody civil war

Rebel forces control the largely Muslim north, while the mainly Christian south remains in government hands.

Peace talks in the Togolese capital, Lome, have become bogged down over political differences, and our correspondent says both sides have been re-arming and preparing for battle.

President Gbagbo says the rebels must lay down their arms

Mr de Villepin is on a tour of West African countries in the latest bid to solve the conflict.

He said that without a political settlement, Ivory Coast risked slipping into the kind of strife seen in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Hundreds were killed in fighting before the truce was signed and hundreds of thousands fled their homes.

The rebels, who began their uprising on 19 September, insist that President Laurent Gbagbo must step down and want fresh elections to be held, supervised by international monitors.

Mr Gbagbo says he was democratically elected and so should serve his full term in office.

He has offered to hold a referendum on changing the constitution - another rebel demand - but this was dismissed.