At least three shot dead in Guinea anti-government protest, opposition says

At least three people were shot dead and many wounded at an anti-government protest in and around Guinea’s capital Conakry on Thursday, an opposition coalition said.

It was at least the fourth deadly protest in Guinea since June, organised by groups that are calling on military leaders to restore constitutional order after seizing power in a coup last year.

The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of politicians and activists, said three people had died from bullet wounds. Reuters was able to confirm two of the deaths with victims’ family members, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

The streets were quiet on Friday. The Ministry of Justice said it would open an investigation into the deaths.

“The Department of Justice and Human Rights formally condemns these attacks on life that are becoming increasingly frequent during violent demonstrations,” Justice Minister Charles Alphonse Wright said in a statement.

There were dozens of arrests, the FNDC said. Wright also added that a gendarme caught on film with a firearm would be identified and prosecuted.

The Ministry of Justice did not say how many people were killed. In its statement issued late on Thursday, it said six members of security forces and two protesters were wounded.

Guinea’s public prosecutor in June charged a military police officer with the murder of a student protester, shot dead during a demonstration against fuel price hikes.