Conakry, Feb 16 (AFP/APP):Anti-junta protesters clashed with security forces in Guinea on Thursday, AFP journalists saw, with the country’s main opposition coalition reporting “many arrests” and people suffering wounds from live ammunition.
Young demonstrators hurled stones and erected barricades on a major road in the suburbs of the capital Conakry as police officers and gendarmes fired tear gas to try to disperse them. Gunfire was also heard.
The West African country’s ruling military junta, in power since a 2021 coup toppled former president Alpha Conde, has banned political protests.
The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of opposition parties and civil society groups, said around 30 people sustained injuries, some from gunshot wounds, and reported “many arrests”.
Several journalists and eyewitnesses reported the presence of soldiers among the security forces, supporting social media accounts and the FNDC which said the authorities had resorted to army units for reinforcement.
Alseny Sall, the spokesman for the Guinean Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights, said using the army was “a concerning situation… we don’t understand what can justify such a decision”.
An AFP journalist said that soldiers harassed and insulted him and that his camera’s memory card was seized.
The authorities have not commented on the events.
The FNDC had called the rally to demand the release of three of its arrested activists and other prisoners it says are being held for political reasons, as well as a return to civilian rule.
Guinea’s main political parties had also encouraged people to take to the streets.
The junta led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya has ordered the dissolution of the FNDC and pledged to restore civilian rule after implementing government reforms.
The transition period was fixed at two years beginning from January this year following pressure from the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, which has also had to deal with coups in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020.
The opposition accuses the junta of grabbing power and silencing dissent by arresting political and civil society leaders and carrying out politically motivated legal actions.
The main political parties have refused to engage with the junta on the terms of the transition period.
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