Dozens Injured in Guinea Pre-election Clashes
CONAKRY
Dozens of people were hurt during fighting over the weekend between rival political groups, before a presidential election scheduled for Oct. 11, local authorities said on Monday.
Supporters of different parties clashed on Friday and Saturday in the city of Nzerekore in Guinea's Forest Region during a visit by President Alpha Conde. Residents say calm was restored by a series of arrests and the imposition of a curfew.
"The situation is very, very serious. We have 29 people with gunshot injuries," Aboubacar Mbopp Camara, prefect for Nzerekore, told reporters.
Medical charity Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) said on its Twitter feed on Monday that around 80 people were admitted to its local hospital. They suffered a range of injuries from bullets, stones and batons, it said.
Local papers said one person had died from his injuries, although this could not be independently verified.
The riots pitted supporters of Conde's Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) party against those of his main rival, Cellou Dalein Diallo, of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), residents said.
Guinea, a former French colony and Africa's largest producer of bauxite, has a long history of ethnic tensions.
Conde, who is favored to win next week's vote, draws support from his Malinke ethnicity. Diallo enjoys backing from the Peuhl, who account for 40 percent of Guinea's population.
The European Union in a statement described the election campaign as "extremely tense" and called on actors to refrain from violence.
Opposition parties have asked for polls to be postponed to address alleged irregularities in the process.
Deadly clashes in Guinea ahead of presidential vote
Monday 5 October 2015 - 9:55am
CONAKRY, Guinea - Clashes between supporters of Guinea's ruling party and opposition activists left at least one dead and more than 80 wounded, a charity said Sunday, as tension mounts ahead of next week's presidential election.
Authorities declared a curfew across the southwestern city of N'Zerekore after fighting gripped the city late into Saturday night, the second major outbreak of violence in the run-up to the October 11 polls.
"Our teams, working with the Guinean Red Cross, helped the medical team at the regional hospital of N'Zerekore to care for around 80 people injured by gunshots or rocks," said Olivier van Eyll, the head of medical charity Alima's Guinea mission.
"Unfortunately there was a death among the wounded," he told AFP.
The higher toll comes after a hospital source earlier told AFP at least 16 people were admitted to hospital with bullet wounds following the unrest, while six others came in with injuries caused by sticks and stones.
A source in another hospital spoke of "around a dozen young people" injured.
The violence in Guinea's second-largest city comes after at least 17 people were wounded in clashes between rival factions in the northern town of Koundara in late September, according to witnesses and security sources.
The trouble began in N'Zerekore on Friday afternoon during a visit by President Alpha Conde, who is seeking re-election, and his supporters.
Local traders, many of whom belong to the Fulani ethnic group, traditionally loyal to opposition challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo, were angered when they were asked to close their shops for his arrival.
"That's what lit the fire," a local police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Local residents confirmed his version of events. "Stones were thrown and there are numerous injuries on both sides," one witness said.
Government officials and local authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Eight contenders -- including Conde and Diallo -- have been approved as candidates for the country's second democratic presidential election.
Guinea's opposition on Thursday called for the vote to be postponed until later in October to allow the electoral commission to correct "anomalies and irregularities in the electoral roll".
- AFP
Dozens of people were hurt during fighting over the weekend between rival political groups, before a presidential election scheduled for Oct. 11, local authorities said on Monday.
Supporters of different parties clashed on Friday and Saturday in the city of Nzerekore in Guinea's Forest Region during a visit by President Alpha Conde. Residents say calm was restored by a series of arrests and the imposition of a curfew.
"The situation is very, very serious. We have 29 people with gunshot injuries," Aboubacar Mbopp Camara, prefect for Nzerekore, told reporters.
Medical charity Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) said on its Twitter feed on Monday that around 80 people were admitted to its local hospital. They suffered a range of injuries from bullets, stones and batons, it said.
Local papers said one person had died from his injuries, although this could not be independently verified.
The riots pitted supporters of Conde's Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) party against those of his main rival, Cellou Dalein Diallo, of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), residents said.
Guinea, a former French colony and Africa's largest producer of bauxite, has a long history of ethnic tensions.
Conde, who is favored to win next week's vote, draws support from his Malinke ethnicity. Diallo enjoys backing from the Peuhl, who account for 40 percent of Guinea's population.
The European Union in a statement described the election campaign as "extremely tense" and called on actors to refrain from violence.
Opposition parties have asked for polls to be postponed to address alleged irregularities in the process.
Deadly clashes in Guinea ahead of presidential vote
Monday 5 October 2015 - 9:55am
CONAKRY, Guinea - Clashes between supporters of Guinea's ruling party and opposition activists left at least one dead and more than 80 wounded, a charity said Sunday, as tension mounts ahead of next week's presidential election.
Authorities declared a curfew across the southwestern city of N'Zerekore after fighting gripped the city late into Saturday night, the second major outbreak of violence in the run-up to the October 11 polls.
"Our teams, working with the Guinean Red Cross, helped the medical team at the regional hospital of N'Zerekore to care for around 80 people injured by gunshots or rocks," said Olivier van Eyll, the head of medical charity Alima's Guinea mission.
"Unfortunately there was a death among the wounded," he told AFP.
The higher toll comes after a hospital source earlier told AFP at least 16 people were admitted to hospital with bullet wounds following the unrest, while six others came in with injuries caused by sticks and stones.
A source in another hospital spoke of "around a dozen young people" injured.
The violence in Guinea's second-largest city comes after at least 17 people were wounded in clashes between rival factions in the northern town of Koundara in late September, according to witnesses and security sources.
The trouble began in N'Zerekore on Friday afternoon during a visit by President Alpha Conde, who is seeking re-election, and his supporters.
Local traders, many of whom belong to the Fulani ethnic group, traditionally loyal to opposition challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo, were angered when they were asked to close their shops for his arrival.
"That's what lit the fire," a local police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Local residents confirmed his version of events. "Stones were thrown and there are numerous injuries on both sides," one witness said.
Government officials and local authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Eight contenders -- including Conde and Diallo -- have been approved as candidates for the country's second democratic presidential election.
Guinea's opposition on Thursday called for the vote to be postponed until later in October to allow the electoral commission to correct "anomalies and irregularities in the electoral roll".
- AFP
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