(Newser) – The end may finally be near for Laurent Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast, but it's clear his refusal to give up power continues to take a devastating toll on the country. Traveling on a main access road into Abidjan, Reuters correspondent Mark John describes seeing a dozen corpses lined up near a gas station, all shot in the head. They were apparently supporters of president-in-waiting Alassane Ouattara who were caught by Gbagbo loyalists.

"What is more certain is that you do not have to go too far to encounter the acrid stench of death in Abidjan, where pro-Ouattara soldiers launched what they vowed was their final assault to unseat Gbagbo," writes John. During a rare lull in fighting, meanwhile, residents scrambled from their homes with plastic canisters seeking the basics. "We haven't had water for two days, there is nothing to eat," one local tells him. (Read more Ivory Coast stories.)

