An Ivory Coast militia leader has been killed by forces of the country's new President Alassane Ouattara.
The leader of the so-called Invisible Commandos, Ibrahim Coulibaly, was killed in an offensive on Wednesday, a defence ministry spokesman said.
The Commandos had helped Mr Ouattara gain control of parts of Abidjan during a post-poll dispute.
But they had since fallen out and their respective forces clashed on Wednesday in the city, Ivory Coast's largest.
"I can confirm that Ibrahim Coulibaly was killed during fighting today," defence ministry spokesman Capt Alla Kouakou Leon told Reuters.
A comander of the defence ministry's fighters said they had found Mr Coulibaly's body when they seized his headquarters.
Order to disarm
Mr Coulibaly, who had said he wanted recognition for his role in overthrowing Mr Gbagbo, had sought an audience with Mr Ouattara. But he refused a presidential order to disarm beforehand.
Government forces launched an offensive in Abidjan's northern Abobo district to dislodge Mr Coulibaly's forces.
Mr Kouakou added that two government troops and six fighters loyal to Mr Coulibaly men were also killed during the raid, which took place in a poor neighbourhood in the district.
His fighters had began battling the troops of fallen strongman Laurent Gbagbo in February, after they fired mortar shells and rockets into Abobo.
Mr Ouattara's predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, was captured two weeks ago by pro-Ouattara forces after he refused to step down following his defeat in last November's presidential elections.
The former president and his wife Simone have been put under house arrest in separate towns in the north of the country.
Thousands are believed to have been killed and wounded during the recent crisis.
Ivory Coast's new president has said that an investigation has begun into alleged crimes committed by his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo.
Alassane Ouattara told state-controlled TV that Mr Gbagbo's close associates were also under investigation.
Mr Gbagbo was arrested earlier this month, ending a five-month-long crisis following presidential elections.
He had refused to relinquish power even though Mr Ouattara was internationally regarded as the winner.
"Preliminary investigations are under way over the crimes and offences committed by Laurent Gbagbo and his associates," government spokesman Patrick Achi said, according to Agence France Presse.
Violent conflict
Mr Gbagbo's stubborn refusal to accept his defeat following the 28 November elections tippled the country into its most violent conflict in a decade. Thousands are believed to have been killed and wounded.
Mr Gbagbo, his wife Simone and more than 120 people were arrested at the presidential residence in the main city Abidjan on 11 April.
The former president and his wife have been put under house arrest in separate towns in the north of the country. Half of those who were arrested alongside him have since been freed.
The government of Mr Ouattara still faces resistance from fighters loyal to the former president who have refused to disarm, although several generals and senior officers have pledged their allegiance to the country's new leader.
On Tuesday, Gen Mathias Doue, a former chief of staff to the Armed Forces of Ivory Coast, became the latest to switch sides, according to the Associated Press.
The news agency reports that he was received by Mr Ouattara at the Golf Hotel where he has set up his government since the post-election crisis began.
Apr 22, 2011
Ivory Coast: Alassane Ouattara recalls army to barracks
Many Abidjan residents want the northern fighters off their streets
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has ordered all soldiers to return to their barracks as he tries to restore normality after months of unrest.
He said that law and order would now be enforced by the police and gendarmes.
He took power last week after his forces arrested his rival, Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to concede defeat in last year's elections.
But some pro-Gbagbo militias continue to operate in parts of the main city, Abidjan.
Earlier this week, two rival group of pro-Ouattara forces clashed in the city - the "Invisible Commandos" which had taken control of parts of Abidjan and the Republican Forces who had swept across the country from their northern bases in March.
"As commander-in-chief of the army, I order you to pull all combat units to their barracks and bases of origin, whether that is in the north or the south," Mr Ouattara told senior generals from both sides on Friday, reports the Reuters news agency.
The BBC's John James in Abidjan says the decision to send troops back to the barracks is not without it risks, but it shows many of the northern ex-rebel soldiers that brought Mr Ouattara to power are proving as much a weakness as a strength in Abidjan.
Now most of the fighting is over, the often ill-disciplined force is accused of looting and perceived as a threat by some civilians, he says.
But he says an elite unit of the northern forces is likely to remain in the city to work alongside the UN peacekeepers guarding the new government.
The return of the police to the streets will encourage people to go back to work and businesses to reopen in the world's main cocoa producer, our correspondent says.
Banks to reopen
Defence ministry spokesman Alla Kouakou Leon told BBC Afrique that Prime Minister Guillaume Soro would meet Ibrahim Coulibaly, leader of the "Invisible Commandos", to try to resolve the dispute.
He also said that 5,000 members of the Republican Forces would be integrated into the army.
Mr Ouattara has been receiving pledges of allegiance this week from senior military officers and the heads of main institutions at Abidjan's Golf Hotel where he has been based since the post-election crisis began.
On Thursday, President Ouattara said banks should open next week and that by the end of the month the normalisation process should be a reality.
He is to be officially sworn in as president in the second half of May, in the official capital, Yamoussoukro.
Our correspondent says a national unity government will then be announced, followed by parliamentary elections before the end of the year.
(Reuters) - The Ivorian military attacked the 'Invisible Commando' militia in Abidjan on Wednesday, the head of the militia and other sources said, signaling a violent break between the formerly allied forces.
"For the past few minutes our positions in Abobo and Ayaman have been under attack by elements of the FRCI (Ivorian army) who accuse us of helping the pro-Gbagbo militias in Yopougon," Ibrahim Coulibaly, the head of the Invisible Commandos, told Reuters by telephone.
The militia had fought alongside what is now the Ivorian national army to topple former President Laurent Gbagbo, and Coulibaly had said on Tuesday his fighters were loyal to new President Alassane Ouattara.
A source close to the FRCI, which is also fighting remaining pro-Gbagbo militias in Abidjan, confirmed the attack on Wednesday, saying Coulibaly's forces had not met a deadline to join the national army.
Residents in Abobo told Reuters by telephone that they could hear heavy weapons fire.
The long queue zigzagging outside a reopened bakery on Wednesday hinted at a city rediscovering itself. It was one of several signs that Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, could be returning to something like normality two days after the capture of its rogue president, Laurent Gbagbo.
Just down the street, formerly the scene of fierce combat, hundreds of people milled around fruit and vegetable stalls. A minibus pulled up and women stepped out carrying crates of eggs. At nearby restaurants, people smiled and waved at passing French military patrols.
Some petrol stations reopened, communal taxis were operating and water and electricity, cut off by 10 days of fighting, were restored to most neighbourhoods, residents said. The UN Children's Fund, Unicef, was able to deliver supplies such as medicine, soap and blankets to the city for the first time in weeks.
But people were forced to step over the detritus of battle and several burnt bodies could still be seen in grasslands – one, a young man, clutching a bunch of fruit.
"Life is gradually returning to normal, shops have reopened as well as pharmacies," Mariam Kone, in the southern district of Koumassi, told Reuters. "At night, though, there is still shooting by those who have weapons. They are not happy at all that Gbagbo's gone."
There were reports of continued violence in Yopougon, a pro-Gbagbo stronghold. "There's a lot of submachine gunfire and we don't know who is doing the shooting," Stella Gogo, a resident, told Reuters.
Amnesty International reported that on Tuesday armed men, some wearing military uniforms, carried out house-to-house searches in real or perceived pro-Gbagbo neighbourhoods. One witness told the rights group how a policeman from Gbagbo's ethnic group was taken from his house and shot dead at point-blank range.
Footage has emerged showing forces loyal to Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, walking through the front gate of Gbagbo's presidential residence carrying firearms. Many are dressed in camouflage and wearing helmets, and some are crouched in shooting position. After orders from a commander, fighters enter the property by shooting at the lock and forcing their way inside. The footage, shot by a pro-Ouattara fighter and obtained by Associated Press, shows fighters putting a camouflage flak jacket on Gbagbo. He and his wife are then escorted to a car with a tank sitting nearby.
On a visit to the residence on Wednesday, the Guardian observed burned-out armoured vehicles, wrecked cars and discarded uniforms. The front entrance was battered. A sign for Gbagbo's elite republican guard lay lopsided. French soldiers fired teargas to deter would-be looters.
In one part of the compound, a building that contained a prison cell was littered with grenades, newspapers and upturned beds, while outside a guitar rested on a fridge beside two neatly packed leather suitcases. A pristine picture of Gbagbo was on the wall. Outside, curiously, amid discarded sofas and mattresses, was a blackboard on which was chalked: "Beyonce, I love you."
Philippe Mangou, Gbagbo's ex-army chief of staff, called on all soldiers to report to their base to serve under Ouattara's army, the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast.
Ouattara said Gbagbo had been moved out of the Golf hotel, where he was taken after his capture on Monday. He said Gbagbo would be kept in a villa and his rights as a former head of state would be respected. "Gbagbo is in a residence under surveillance somewhere in Ivory Coast," Ouattara said. "There will be charges [against Gbagbo] on a national level and an international level. Reconciliation cannot happen without justice."
He said he had phoned South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, for advice about setting up a credible and independent truth and reconciliation committee.
Ouattara repeated his call against violence, and said all minors being held should be released immediately. "We need to secure the country, notably Abidjan," he said. "It is important for the country to emerge from this crisis on top."
Mr Coulibaly and his men had refused to obey an order to disarm
