Gbagbo fighters to return from Togo

About 200 fighters loyal to former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo will be repatriated from Togo after two years of exile following their country's 2010-11 postelection conflict, government spokesman Bruno Kone said, according to AP. Kone said the fighters include members of Gbagbo's Defense and Security Forces army and pro-Gbagbo militiamen who fled to Togo toward the end of the conflict, which began after Gbagbo refused to leave office despite losing the November 2010 vote to current President Alassane Ouattara. More than 3,000 people were killed in five months of fighting, according to United Nations estimates. The former fighters will now be civilians in Ivory Coast and some will receive a small amount of compensation to help them get started, said Kone. He did not provide a date for the repatriation, saying it could start "at any time." Ouattara first mentioned the operation publicly last weekend during a trip to western Ivory Coast, a region that generally supported Gbagbo and has remained volatile in the two years since the conflict ended. Pro-Gbagbo fighters scattered throughout West Africa, notably in Liberia and Ghana, have been accused of staging attacks on villages and security installations in Ivory Coast. The most recent attacks occurred in March, when thousands were displaced by three raids in western Ivory Coast that were suspected to have originated in Liberia.