ZWEDRU - Liberia will extradite to the Ivory Coast 41 Ivorians accused of taking part in deadly post-election violence in their homeland that killed more than 3,000 people and uprooted a million from their homes, a Liberian court has ruled.

The decision follows mounting pressure on Liberia from the Ivorian government and human rights groups to tackle cross-border attacks said to be committed by supporters of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and Liberian mercenaries based in the forest region near the western Ivorian border.

This month 18 people - including seven U.N. peacekeepers - were killed in an ambush Ivory Coast has blamed on fighters from Liberia.

A court in the remote eastern Liberian town of Zwedru, near the Ivorian border, ordered the extradition late on Thursday. It is due to be carried out within 30 days.