Hundreds of residents have been fleeing the area after Friday’s killing of peacekeepers and civilians.

The government of Liberia on Saturday June 9, 2012 announced the closure of its border with Côte d’Ivoire but did not confirm the claim by Abidjan that gunmen who killed seven United Nations peacekeepers from Niger, eight civilians and an Ivoirian soldier had come from its territory.

The peacekeepers were patrolling in an area between the villages of Tai and Para after hearing rumours of an imminent attack on communities in the region, UN officials said. The ambush in south-west Côte d’Ivoire near Liberia's border sparked an immediate exodus of civilians, Anouk Desgroseilliers a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP news agency.

Ivorian Defence Minister, Paul Koffi Koffi said the Ivorian and U.N. troops were responding to a suspected raid on a village 45 km south of the town of Tai, when they were ambushed. The Ivorian government says it will launch a man hunt on Monday June 10 to find the perpetrators of the ambush - believed to be the first to target UN troops directly.

Koffi Koffi said the raid on Friday afternoon highlighted the need for Ivorian troops to carry out cross-border operations into Liberia to improve security. However, Reuters news agency quoted Liberia’s Defence Minister, Brownie Samukai as saying there were no immediate plans for Ivorian troops to deploy inside his country.

The United Nations announced that it was reshuffling some of its several thousand troops deployed in the zone to protect civilians in the border area. The bodies of its slain Nigerien troops reached Abidjan by late afternoon. Al-Jazeera Television quoted Liberia's Information Minister, Lewis Browne, as telling reporters in the capital, Monrovia, that investigations were still going on to determine where the attack came from. He revealed that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had ordered the immediate deployment of the armed forces to the border in the wake of the attack.

Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia have generally had good relations and have in the past carried out joint patrols with UN peacekeepers along their border. Ivorian leader, Alassane Ouattara won a 2010 election but only came to power following months of violence that killed thousands after incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede.