ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, March 12 (UPI) -- Violence in Ivory Coast has forced more than 450,000 people to flee their homes and dogs were eating dead bodies on the streets of Abidjan, officials said.
November's presidential election was supposed to unite the African nation, but President Laurent Gbagbo has refused to cede power and there is concern the country could descend into a civil war, the BBC reported.
Opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara is widely recognized as the winner of the election and he has traveled to Nigeria to get help in ousting Gbagbo.
The African Union recognizes Ouattara as the winner of the election, but Gbagbo claims election fraud and refused to step down.
About 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers are in Ivory Coast, monitoring a cease-fire line between former rebel forces that support Ouattara, who controls the north, while most of the army remains loyal to Gbagbo.
The U.N. Refugee Agency called the situation an "unfolding tragedy." It said the crisis in North Africa has taken attention from the situation in Ivory Coast.
"We're seeing a lot of desolate scenes like dead bodies still littering the streets of (Abidjan district) Abobo where's there's been a lot of violence for weeks," said Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba, a spokeswoman for the refugee agency.
