The small town of M'Batto in central Côte d'Ivoire is the center of national attention as the country continues to face post-election tensions.
Rumors on social networks speak of around forty deaths during interethnic clashes, when the official toll reports only six.
The scars of the clashes are still visible in M'Batto.
They opposed the Agnis, a pro-opposition ethnic group, and the Malinké, an ethnic group from the north of the country rather favorable to President Alassane Ouattara, whose re-election has been contested by the opposition since the election on October 31.
In an Agni neighborhood, the young people have set up a self-defense committee and accuse the Malinke of having attacked them first.
However, the two groups have always lived together.
Images from other cities, an inflated balance sheet, false information
But M'Batto's violence has become a national issue and ignited the Ivorian Web.
On social networks, some report dozens of deaths, hundreds of wounded, false gendarmerie reports have been published, a beheading video has circulated a lot… images actually coming from the city of Daoukro.
At the hospital, the director assures that six people from both camps have died, and not about 40, as rumors claim.
According to Lassina Serme, director of IvoryCheck and specialist in information verification, "the objective is very clear. By doing so, we sow panic, we sow disorder, we sow concern."
According to the government, since last August at least 85 people have lost their lives in violence linked to the presidential election.
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