Fresh bombardments in Ivory Coast

Tensions have been rising since a disarmament deadline was missed

Fresh bombing raids have been launched in Ivory Coast by the government war planes on rebel-held territory.

Unrest also spread to the major city of Abidjan in the south, where opposition party and newspaper offices were attacked by groups of armed youths.

The United Nations condemned Thursday's raids on the north - the first major hostility since last year's truce.

The country has been split in two, with 10,000 French and UN troops deployed to monitor the ceasefire.

Last week, the rebels, known as the New Forces, withdrew their ministers from the unity government, accusing the army of preparing to return to war.

Explosions

According to the BBC's James Copnall in Abidjan seven towns and villages came under attack on Friday by government planes and helicopters.

Our enemy is the rebels, no-one else Charles Goude Ble Young Patriots leader Peace process in tatters?

Ground battles in the central town of Raviar, in the UN-patrolled buffer zone which splits the country, have continued for a second day between government and former rebel forces, the UN says.

The UN stopped two convoys of Ivorian army vehicles attempting to cross over into the zone. No shots were fired, the UN military spokesman said.

It is the first time UN soldiers, who do not have a mandate to stop aircraft, have halted troop movements since fighting broke out on Thursday, our correspondent says.

The UN believes two New Forces soldiers and 16 civilians have been killed in the attacks.

The New Forces confirm they have come under attack from the air, but an Ivorian army spokesman has denied any knowledge of these events.

On Thursday, government aircraft bombed Bouake - a rebel stronghold - three times during the day, injuring at least 40 people, many of them civilians, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres says.

After nightfall, Korhogo - situated 225km (140 miles) north of Bouake - was also bombed.

Buildings ablaze

This sparked a series of demonstrations in the economic capital Abidjan, where buildings housing opposition parties and newspapers, accused of colluding with the rebels, were burnt.

In Pictures: Showing anger

"They looted all they could before setting fire to it. We called the fire fighters in vain for an hour," Amadou Coulibaly of the Rally for Republicans party told the AFP news agency.

Much of the violence in the city is blamed on the Young Patriots, a group which supports President Laurent Gbagbo.

Young Patriots leader Charles Goude Ble urged his followers on Thursday to direct their hostility towards the former rebels only.

"Our enemy is the rebels, no-one else," he said.

Boiling point

Meanwhile, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo - the current African Union chairman - will hold a crisis meeting about the outbreak of fighting on Saturday, his spokeswoman Remi Oyo has said.

But she did not confirm who would be at the meeting - to take place on the president's ranch - or whether representatives from the Ivorian government or New Forces would attend.

President Obasanjo had spoken to US President George Bush to update him on the volatile situation, she said.

Tensions reached boiling point in Ivory Coast after the government and former rebels missed a deadline last month to implement legal and constitutional reforms, as well as disarmament, our correspondent says.

Last week a "state of maximum alert" was declared in the north and a curfew imposed after truckloads of heavy weapons were found near Bouake.

The New Forces pulled out of a long-delayed disarmament process, saying they were ready to defend themselves if the ceasefire was broken.