Fresh exodus of migrants in southwest Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Several thousand migrant farmers have fled their homes in the southwest of Ivory Coast following fresh clashes with members of the indigenous Kroumen ethnic group, residents and officials said on Monday.

One unconfirmed report said three people had been killed in the clashes that erupted on August 28 between migrants from Burkina Faso in their village of Trahe and Kroumen from the village of Brahi.

Similar clashes rocked the cocoa and rubber growing area in November 1999, when as many as 12,000 migrants fled their homes and returned to Burkina Faso. The official death toll then was five.

Residents said a Kroumen girl aged eight had been killed along with two Burkinabe in the latest clashes.

They added that migrants -- from Burkina Faso and elsewhere in Ivory Coast -- had been trucked out of the forest where they farm to the fishing village of Grand Bereby and the country's second port of San Pedro.

The evacuation followed threats from the Kroumen to kill all outsiders left in the forest.

Officials in the main city Abidjan said a team had been sent to investigate.

Ivory Coast is the world's top cocoa producer.

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