Running street battles between the police and supporters of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) in Guinea has left at least one person dead in the capital Conakry.
16-year old Alpha Souleymane Diallo, a Grade 9 student, was shot in Hamdallaye, a district in the upper suburbs of Conakry during the unrest.
“We are gathering information about the outcome of the march. But for the time being, it should be known that one person was shot dead and several wounded. The victim’s name is Alpha Souleymane Diallo,” the spokesperson for FNDC Abdoulaye Oumou Sow, told APA.
Speaking about the crackdown against the march the itinerary of which had been modified by the Governor of Conakry, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Movement (MoDeL) Aliou Bah also a member of the FNCD denounced the “savage attack by the security operatives.”
According to Bah the protesters were attacked and sprayed with tear gas, leaving them suffocated.
The President of the Union of Republican Forces (UFR), Sidya Touré, who had taken part in the march, was forced to leave his vehicle.
“The police fired tear gas at my driver. My convoy was particularly targeted,” he said, before accusing the new Minister of Security, Damantang Albert Camara, of embarking on a mission to physically eliminate opponents.
In a report published last Wednesday, Amnesty International revealed that at least 70 demonstrators and bystanders have been killed in Guinea since 2015.
The unrest in Guinea was triggered by attempts by President Alpha Conde to amend the constitution to allow him a third term.
SD/te/lb/as/APA