Gunmen attacked a police station and an army position in Abidjan Sunday, killing five soldiers, Defence Minister Paul Koffi Koffi told AFP.

Three members of the armed forces were killed in an attack on a police station in the Yopougon neighbourhood and two others died in another attack on a nearby army position moments later, he said.

"Six people arrived in a taxi in military fatigues, heavily armed and opened fire," seemingly in a bid to free some people who had been arrested Saturday, Koffi said.

The same group of gunmen is believed to have carried out both attacks, said the minister, but it is unclear whether the gunmen are soldiers or civilians.

Though security has improved in Ivory Coast since the end of the post-electoral crisis of December 2010 to April 2011 that claimed 3,000 lives -- with a number of clashes fought in Yopougon -- ongoing political tensions continues to spark violence.