Over 1,000 killed in western Ivory Coast fighting

At least 1,000 people were killed in western Ivory Coast during the five-month crisis that followed a disputed presidential election, the UN mission in the country announced Thursday.

"At least 1,012 people, among them 103 women and 42 children, were killed" in political clashes and communal fighting, Guillaume N'gefa, the head of the mission's human rights division, told a press conference.

Of the total, "at least 505 people were killed" in the town of Duekoue between December and the end of April, N'gefa said.