French troops say large caches of arms discovered in Ivory Coast would have been used by former leader Laurent Gbagbo.
The weapons, stored at villas in the main city of Abidjan, included mortars, cannons and rockets, the BBC reports.
French forces led an assault against him on Monday to force Mr Gbagbo from power, who had refused to accept defeat in an election held in November last year.
His rival Alassane Ouattara, who was internationally recognised as winning the poll, has now taken power.
During the stand-off between Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouattara about 1,500 people were killed and 1 million forced from their homes.
Mr Gbagbo is reportedly under house arrest and his former chief of staff General Philippe Mangou has appealed on television for order to be restored.
The BBC reports the French army took journalists to three villas in central Abidjan where they had found enough weapons to launch a new war.
The French troops documented the arms before handing them over to African UN soldiers for safe disposal.
Earlier, five generals who had remained loyal to Mr Gbagbo pledged allegiance to Mr Ouattara, though there are reports that some soldiers and militiamen have refused to surrender.
