Conakry – Dozens of young men clashed with security forces in Guinea’s capital on Wednesday after an opposition alliance called for protests against the ruling junta.
Demonstrators in a flashpoint suburb of Conakry hurled stones at police and gendarmes who replied with teargas, an AFP reporter saw.
Police were heavily deployed around the city, and in many districts, markets and shops were closed in the morning as traders feared violence.
Demonstrations had been called by the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of political parties, trade unions and civil society organisations which the junta dissolved earlier this month.
ALSO READ | Guinea opposition movement presses protests despite dissolution
The impoverished, mineral-rich state has been ruled by the military since a coup last September that ousted President Alpha Conde, in power since 2010.
In May, the junta banned all protests and on August 6 decreed the dissolution of the FNDC.
The alliance staged rallies on July 28 and 29 in which five people were killed and called for peaceful demonstrations for August 17.
The FNDC spearheaded protests against Conde while he was in power, targeting especially his bid for a third term that it said was unconstitutional. The demonstrations were often brutally repressed.
After the coup, the group turned its focus on the junta, progressively amplifying its concern over human rights and the pace of return to civilian rule.
Coup leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya has pledged to hand over power to elected civilians within three years — a timeline that fellow West African states want to be shorter.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@SuunaKing_James
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