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Police, protesters clash in Guinea

Monday, 13 April 2015 6:14 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 13 April 2015 6:13 PM ]

Guinean opposition supporters run during clashes with anti- riot policemen on April 13, 2015, in the capital, Conakry. ©AFP

Police in Guinea have shot and injured anti-government protesters during violent clashes in the capital, Conakry, medical and opposition sources say.

The riot started in the morning on Monday in several suburbs of the capital including Simbaya and Hamadallaye.

“There were violent clashes between young protesters and police in Hamadallaye, where security forces shot three young protesters,” a hospital physician said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The gunfire resumed after the injured were taken to hospital as youths protested in the streets.

Four other protesters were reportedly wounded in Simbaya, a northeastern suburb of the capital.

President Alpha Conde is blamed by opposition leaders for lack of security in the country. They have called for demonstrations in all parts of Conakry.

Guinea’s parliament was boycotted in March by opposition, withdrawing its lawmakers from parliament in protest over the timetable for a presidential election.

The last parliamentary elections, initially scheduled for 2013, were postponed by almost three years on account of violent ethnic tensions, which have been unprecedented since Guinea’s independence.

Guinea, located in West Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the region. It gained independence from France in 1958, but ever since has been run by a series of autocratic rulers.

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