Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Annette said the peacekeepers, mandated by the United Nations to police a fragile ceasefire between Ivorian government troops and rebels, could not enter the strategic western town of Toulepleu.

"We could not enter Toulepleu. Hundreds of loyalist (government) soldiers and Liberians blocked off the route," he said.

He said some of them "are still thinking of attacking Danane," a town 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Toulepleu and still under the control of rebels.

Ivory Coast on Friday launched a vast operation combining government troops, rebel forces and French and West African peacekeepers to secure the western region.

The aim is to create a "zone of confidence" in the west with the French and West African peacekeepers and rebel forces monitoring the north and the Ivorian government soldiers in charge of the southern portion of the western frontier.

Liberians fighting alongside both Ivorian government forces and rebels in the area have been accused of rights abuses and looting in the region, now called the "wild west."

Ivory Coast has been sliced in two since a September 19 rebellion that rapidly transformed into civil war. Rebels control the north and a vast swathe of the west.

The rebels recently joined the government after gruelling peace talks and this month signed a truce with the government which has so far been respected.

However, Colonel N'Goran Aka told AFP that the government soldiers at Toulepleu had not been ordered to block the peacekeepers.

"It would surprise me, its probably the locals," who stopped them, he said.

According to informed sources, Toulepleu is the rear base of Liberians fighting for the Ivorian government.

They are still armed, according to reports. Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo had pledged to stop employing mercenaries to buttress the government troops.

WAR.WIRE