The UN and France launched attacks against Ivory Coast’s leader Laurent Gbagbo on Monday, hitting targets at his military bases, his offices and his house in a major escalation of the foreign intrusion into the country’s political crisis. By Tuesday morning, Gbagbo had taken refuge in a bunker underneath his home negotiating a likely surrender through the ambassador of France, said Alain Lobognon, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Guillaume Soro. Anti-government forces backing Gbagbo’s opponent Alassane Outtara were also closing in. Outtara is recognized by the UN, the African Union and international institutions as the man who won presidential elections last year.
