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A hotel used by the internationally recognised president of Ivory Coast has come under attack by forces loyal to his rival Laurent Gbagbo, reports say.Witnesses and a UN official say the Golf Hotel in Abidjan had come under mortar and small-arms fire, and the UK embassy has been evacuated.
Alassane Ouattara was judged to have won the presidential election, but Mr Gbagbo has refused to step down.
He has been surrounded in his residence for days by pro-Ouattara troops.
Reports suggested Saturday's fighting flared at around 1700 GMT.
'The FDS [pro-Gbagbo Defence and Security Forces] are attacking us and we are trying to push them back,' one fighter with the pro-Ouattara forces told the AFP news agency.
'The firing is very very close. Snipers fired bursts from Kalashnikovs. The pro-Gbagbos are attacking us on all fronts,' a hotel resident added.
AFP also reported that UN peacekeepers - tasked by the Security Council with protecting civilians in Ivory Coast - had fired back.
'The Golf Hotel was attacked with mortars,' UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said, adding that the attack had come from south of Abidjan's lagoon, away from the presidential residence.
'In conformity with our mandate to protect the Golf Hotel where President Ouattara and his team are, the peacekeepers responded by targeting the origin of the firing coming from the other side of the lagoon. We intentionally avoided the residence of President Gbagbo.'
However, a spokesman for Mr Gbagbo denied that forces supporting him had carried out the attack.
'It's absolutely false. There has been no attack on the Golf (hotel). It's an imaginary attack.' Ahoua Don Mello told AFP.
The decision to abandon the British embassy compound was taken after bullets hit the building and a mortar round landed in the garden.
The embassy is near the residence of Laurent Gbagbo.
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Alassane Ouattara was judged to have won the presidential election, but Mr Gbagbo has refused to step down.
He has been surrounded in his residence for days by pro-Ouattara troops.
Reports suggested Saturday's fighting flared at around 1700 GMT.
'The FDS [pro-Gbagbo Defence and Security Forces] are attacking us and we are trying to push them back,' one fighter with the pro-Ouattara forces told the AFP news agency.
'The firing is very very close. Snipers fired bursts from Kalashnikovs. The pro-Gbagbos are attacking us on all fronts,' a hotel resident added.
AFP also reported that UN peacekeepers - tasked by the Security Council with protecting civilians in Ivory Coast - had fired back.
'The Golf Hotel was attacked with mortars,' UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said, adding that the attack had come from south of Abidjan's lagoon, away from the presidential residence.
'In conformity with our mandate to protect the Golf Hotel where President Ouattara and his team are, the peacekeepers responded by targeting the origin of the firing coming from the other side of the lagoon. We intentionally avoided the residence of President Gbagbo.'
However, a spokesman for Mr Gbagbo denied that forces supporting him had carried out the attack.
'It's absolutely false. There has been no attack on the Golf (hotel). It's an imaginary attack.' Ahoua Don Mello told AFP.
The decision to abandon the British embassy compound was taken after bullets hit the building and a mortar round landed in the garden.
The embassy is near the residence of Laurent Gbagbo.
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