Rebels and refugees on the border with Liberia describe barbaric scenes as post-election crisis continues
At the border crossing between Ivory Coast and Toe Town, Liberia, the New Forces rebels fighting for Alessane Ouattara are on guard duty. In their camouflage gear with AK47s slung around their necks, they swagger around the barrier across the border bridge that marks the edge of their control.
"I pray for democracy in Ivory Coast and that the will of the people will be respected," says Angelou, the commander, gripping his gun.
As he talks, the sound of gunfire cracks from the forest behind him. 'We don't have problem with civilians. If you see someone's died, it's because he's taken up a gun. If he's taken up arms, he is not a civilian, he is my enemy."
Further north along the border, crouching among bushes along the banks of the river, are two young Liberian men in filthy clothes and flip-flops who describe their nine-day stint with the New Forces, where they say they were told to kill "anyone and everyone".
The UN believes mercenaries are being used by both sides to attack civilians.
The two men agreed to talk, but only for a $10 payment. They described barbaric scenes in which they surrounded villages in western Ivory Coast, armed only with machetes, and killed everyone they saw.
"The town we entered first, most of the people were on the road and they were coming and we killed them," they said, adding that they quickly returned to Liberia when they did not get paid.
Blolequin is one of "their" towns. The UN high commission for human rights hassaid that dozens of bodies had been found there, the houses razed, the town deserted, and that Liberian mercenaries may have been involved.
The men claim to also have attacked Toulepleu. One said: "Now the bodies in Toulepleu, it's not good. The caterpillar left from Danane to bury the bodies. There is no way for cars to go over there because of the bodies on the ground. It stinks."
The Red Cross reached Toulepleu, and found a town almost completely levelled.
Refugees in a transit camp on the Liberian side of the border, some of the 125,000 in Liberia who have so far fled, spoke of the horrors seen in Toulepleu, a town they fled as residents were being indiscriminately gunned down beside them.
Cradling his five children in the dust outside the UN tent, Kuide Pehe Ferdinand recalled the chaos. "I had too many children to save when the rebels hit. We tried to pick them all up but left one child in the house. When I came back, they had burned the house with my baby inside."
Similar stories echo around the camp. People describe dead bodies littering the streets as they ran for their lives. The Audgines are one such family, grieving for a loved one killed when their home was torched, killing their grandfather.