By Peter Murphy

ABIDJAN, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Rebel forces controlling the northern half of Ivory Coast said on Friday they killed one gunman and captured several others after an attack on one of their patrols in the rebel stronghold of Bouake.

A peace pact signed in March between former foes, the New Forces rebels and the government of President Laurent Gbagbo, has boosted hopes for stability in the world's No. 1 cocoa producer, which was split into two by a 2002/2003 civil war.

But unrest, protests and isolated attacks, some apparently involving dissident or discontented rebels, have increased recently in the rebel fiefdom of Bouake, which lies to the north of the cocoa-producing south controlled by the government.

Rebel headquarters in Bouake said one of their patrols was ambushed by gunmen late on Thursday in a city neighbourhood.

"These individuals, lying in wait, wanted to neutralise the patrol and immediately opened fire on them," the statement said.

It added one of the attackers, identified as Seydou Traore, was killed in the exchange of gunfire that followed and a number of other gunmen were captured by rebel soldiers.

The rebel statement said Traore was linked to Ibrahim Coulibaly, a dissident former rebel leader now exiled in Benin.

It added Traore was also behind a failed bid to assassinate prime minister and rebel leader Guillaume Soro in June, when rockets were fired at his plane as it landed in Bouake. Gbagbo named Soro prime minister in April following the new peace deal.

Gbagbo is hoping to hold national elections to try to unify the country by the middle of next year, but delays in starting disarmament and voter identification and registration programmes have cast doubts on whether this timetable is feasible. (Additional reporting by Salim Bamba in Bouake and Ange Aboa in Abidjan; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)

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