As fighting in Cote d'Ivoire's main city, Abidjan, entered its third day on Saturday, France and internationally recognized president Alassane Ouattara called on fighters to halt violence against civilians, the news agency Agence France-Presse reported.

Heavy and small arms fire raged throughout the city on Saturday as looters took advantage of the chaos and stripped shops in several neighborhoods, news reports said.

Staff of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) said it was too dangerous to venture onto the streets of Abidjan, but medical personnel were managing to treat the sick and wounded.

"We’ve been in lock-down here at the office for 24 hours," said MSF field coordinator Henry Gray in a narrative posted on the MSF website. "The other MSF teams in the city are also finding it difficult to move. But one group is in Abobo Sud Hospital on the other side of the city - this is the only hospital still working in that area of over one million residents. They saw 60 patients in the emergency department yesterday alone - 50 of whom had gunshot wounds."

Troops loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo, whose whereabouts remain unknown, have wrested control of state-run television from pro-Ouattara Republican Forces fighters and broadcast a message calling for the mobilization of pro-Gbagbo troops to protect state institutions, according to the BBC.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday said up to 800 people had been killed in the western town of Duekoue early in the week, while the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) said 330 people had been killed in the town, "most" of them at the hands of pro-Gbagbo forces and about 100 by pro-Gbagbo mercenaries.

There are some 10,000 UN troops in Cote d'Ivoire and 1,100 French forces. The French troops have set up a base in Abidjan where hundreds of foreigners have sought refuge.