The lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Ivory Coast's second city of Bouake have been severely affected since the rebels took over three weeks ago.

Food is running out, prices have shot up and public services have come to a standstill, according to journalist Emmanuel Goujon, who is in Bouake.

A quarter of the population of the city, about 150,000 people, have fled their homes since the 19 September uprising and are in need of shelter and food, the Red Cross has said.

Only limited supplies are getting through, particularly from the south, where most crops and vegetables are grown.

Only potatoes and, surprisingly, onions, can still be found in the market, Emmanuel Goujon told the BBC's Network for Africa programme.

That is because a truck loaded with onions got stuck in Bouake on the day the uprising began.

Aid workers say that there is a shortage of drinking water and electricity is a major problem for Bouake residents.

Large parts of the city centre were without electricity for 48 hours this week when government forces launched their offensive against the rebels.

Phones cut

Communications are also difficult. Mobile phones have not worked since the crisis began.

Emmanuel Goujon quotes reliable sources as saying that the authorities in Abidjan have deliberately cut off the city, to hamper the rebels' communications.

He says people are too busy worrying about getting enough food to eat to go to work. Schools and public services are closed.

Civil servants were not paid at the end of September, and banks have shut down because they ran out of money.

The rebels control half of the country

This at a time when the price of some basic foodstuffs has been multiplied by 10.

Thousands of people have fled their homes to escape the fighting.

Some have sought refuge with relatives or in churches, according to the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC), which has been to Bouake.

Simon Pluess, a spokesman for the ICRC in Abidjan, told the BBC's French for Africa service that the organisation had handed out blankets and tarpaulins to displaced people in the city.

Many people have been injured since the fighting started.

A Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) team in Bouake treated at least 32 people, both civilians and men in uniform, after the fighting on Monday and Tuesday, an MSF official in Abidjan, Pascal Vignier, told the BBC's French service.

He said that the military hospital of the town was also looking after the injured.

Mixed loyalty

The demonstration of support for the rebels by some Bouake residents stems from frustration with the government rather than genuine sympathy for their cause, Emmanuel Goujon says.

"I have the feeling that people were demonstrating more because they were suffering from the situation, that's why they were appearing like they supported the mutineers," he said.

He says people feel anger towards the government for not being able to solve the country's problems.