Abidjan - Armed men attacked former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo's party headquarters Saturday, abducting two people and wounding three, the party said, blaming the raid on supporters of President Alassane Ouattara.

 
The incident, in which Ouattara's party denied involvement, heightened tensions in the country's economic capital of Abidjan after a recent series of attacks against the army that the government has blamed on Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

 
"There were about 10 of us having a meeting when people we did not know burst in, carrying clubs, machetes and shotguns," said Jean-Luc Ouallo, a member of the FPI's youth wing.

 
"They took away two of our comrades" in a raid which lasted some 10 minutes, he said.

 
The FPI blamed the attack on supporters of Ouattara, Gbagbo's rival in a post-election crisis that plunged the country into violent chaos from December 2010 to April 2011 and claimed 3,000 lives.

 
"They're Ouattara supporters, we know them, there were some we recognised," said FPI secretary general Laurent Akoun.

 
"Everyone's terrified," he added. "We respect the law. It's the authorities who are responsible for everything that has happened, they don't protect citizens."
 

"As long as we don't know the results of the investigation, all the things Mr Laurent Akoun is saying are lies," RDR spokesman Joel N'Guessan told AFP.
 

"The RDR firmly condemns all acts of violence and barbarism and wants reconciliation in Ivory Coast," he added.