Soon after General Philippe Mangou made the comments witnesses said heavy gunfire and explosions erupted in Abobo, an Abidjan stronghold of Gbagbo`s rival Alassane Ouattara, which has seen days of heavy clashes this week.
Witnesses in another Abidjan neighbourhood also reported gunfire at a pro-Ouattara demonstration while violence reached Daoukro, an opposition stronghold in the centre-east of the country, where a resident said five people were killed in recent days.
The United Nations has warned that the rebel advance in the west and the urban warfare between the factions embroiled in a post-election power struggle were pushing the world`s top cocoa grower back to the brink of another civil war.
The crisis has pushed cocoa futures to 32-year highs.
"It is going well in the West. It is stabilising and we have retaken the town of Bin-Houye and we are at Zouhan-Hounien where there is fighting with the rebels but we are making progress," the pro-Gbagbo general Mangou said on Saturday.
The New Forces rebels, who have backed Ouattara, said they had been attacked this week and retaliated by taking
Zouhan-Hounien, which had been in government control.
There was no independent news from the region. The fighting in the west came on the back of days of exchanges of heavy weapons fire in the densely populated neighbourhood of Abobo that caused hundreds to flee their homes.
Amid heavy rain overnight, residents reported a lull in the violence before gunfire was reported on Saturday afternoon, soon after Mangou said the armed force would "restore order quickly" as they knew where the gunmen were.
"We are hearing heavy firing and explosions ... I think the fighting has started again. Everyone is afraid and people have gone home," Abobo resident Siriki Sanfo said by telephone.
It was not immediately possible to say who was involved in the shooting in Abobo. But Gbagbo`s government says the security forces are being attacked by rebels who have infiltrated the city. Ouattara`s camp says civilians and deserters have taken up arms against Gbagbo.
(Uu.H-RN)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
