Officials in Ivory Coast say they have foiled a plot to overthrow the government by a group of exiled military officers with ties to former president Laurent Gbagbo.

Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko told state television late Tuesday that authorities arrested several people, including Colonel Kate Gnatoa, whom he identified as the leader of the group.

The station aired a video tape showing several uniformed men, with one of them reading a statement announcing the takeover of the government by a military council.

The interior minister also says Lida Kouassi, a former defense minister, was involved in planning the overthrow plot.

Mr. Gbagbo lost a 2010 presidential poll to President Alassane Ouattara, but fought to remain in power. About 3,000 people were killed in a bloody power struggle between the two sides, until the former president was captured in April of last year. He has been charged with crimes against humanity and is being held in The Hague by the International Criminal Court.