ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The Ivorian military says it closed the country's borders, as tensions increased amid confusion over the results of Sunday's presidential election runoff.
The closure came hours after the Constitutional Court rejected an electoral commission's declaration that opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara had won the ballotting, the BBC reported Thursday.
Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo's had tried to block announcement of any result, alleging election fraud in the north where Ouattara's support is heaviest, the BBC reported.
Following a closed-door meeting, the members of the U.N. Security Council urged both sides to resolve their conflict peacefully, the BBC said.
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Council members "reiterated their readiness to take the appropriate measures against those who obstruct the electoral process and, especially, the work of the Independent Election Commission," Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said after the meeting.
The International Criminal Court said it would monitor violent acts.
The army and U.N. peacekeepers have patrolled Abidjan's streets since the runoff election Sunday to prevent an outbreak of violence, the BBC said.
Ouattara captured 54 percent of the vote over Gbagbo, election commission Chairman Youssouf Bakayoko said.
Ouattara told reporters in Abidjan he would try to form a unity government, The New York Times reported.
The announcement followed a night of violence that saw at least eight people at an opposition party office killed.
The attack on Ouattara's office in Abidjan occurred despite a nighttime curfew, the BBC reported.
The building reportedly was hit by a group of armed men an hour before the results were to be released. A BBC reporter at the scene said she could see blood.
The country's army and U.N. peacekeeping troops have been patrolling Abidjan since Sunday to prevent an outbreak of violence.
