Amnesty International said that both loyalist forces...

Amnesty International said that both loyalist forces and rebel groups in Ivory Coast's messy war were carrying out summary executions and other abuses against civilians. The London-based group called on the United Nations to probe the brutalities and urged the international community to get more involved to protect civilians in the West African country. "If the international community does not act immediately, we fear the worst for hundreds of thousands of people living in the sub-region," Amnesty International said in a statement. Amnesty said government forces had also executed dozens of civilians, quoting witness accounts by people fleeing areas held or recaptured by the loyalists. War in the world's top cocoa grower started in mid-September with a military uprising by the northern-based Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast but the conflict escalated in November as two new rebel groups began fighting in the west.