Security forces in Ivory Coast killed 13 armed robbers in a series of shoot-outs over two days in the capital city Abidjan, police said today.
The security situation in the world's top cocoa grower has been on a downward slide since a failed coup attempt in 2002 led to a civil war which has split the country in two.
A police spokesman in Abidjan said the bandits used Kalashnikov assault rifles and pistols. Four criminals and one police officer died on Thursday night and nine armed robbers were killed yesterday, he added.
While there is no fighting between government forces and rebels in Ivory Coast at the moment, guns have become far more freely available in the West African country in recent years.
The United Nations, which has more than 6,000 peacekeepers in the country, said this month it was concerned about the rise in violent crime, especially in Abidjan.
The war has also seen the emergence of several groups of hardline supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo, some based in Abidjan, a sprawling city of more than three million people.
At least two people were killed earlier in February when hardline armed militiamen clashed with police.