An Ivorian gendarme was killed Monday by "gunfire" during a security patrol in the south of the country, a region plagued by occasional opposition protests and blockades, five days before the presidential election.

On Monday, before dawn, a second lieutenant from the Agboville squadron (south) "lost his life during a security patrol mission," the national gendarmerie said in a statement.

"While he was advancing with the gendarmes under his command on the Agboville-Azaguié axis, the patrol came under gunfire 500 meters from the town of Grand Yapo," added the gendarmerie, which specified that the officer "hit in the shoulder and abdomen" succumbed to his injuries.

The gendarmerie did not specify the identity of the perpetrators of this ambush.

The political climate is tense in Ivory Coast: the opposition is denouncing the exclusion of its two main candidates, Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, and is calling for demonstrations that the government has banned, arguing in particular that they risk disturbing public order.

Protests have been observed sporadically for a week in some parts of the country, particularly in the south and west, areas where the opposition has historically been strong.

More than 700 people have been arrested in the country, some for acts that amount to "acts of terrorism," according to prosecutor Oumar Braman Koné, and around thirty have been sentenced to three years in prison for disturbing public order.

A person was shot dead during a protest by unidentified individuals, according to police.

Four opposition candidates are qualified to challenge outgoing President Alassane Ouattara: former Trade Minister Jean-Louis Billon, a PDCI dissident; two former comrades of Laurent Gbagbo who have broken with him, his ex-wife Simone Ehivet Gbagbo and former minister Ahoua Don Mello; and finally Henriette Lagou, who was already a candidate in 2015.

Their campaign is proceeding smoothly, with the candidates' rallies and demonstrations not affected by the bans.