Ten deaths in clashes between forces and prospectors in Guinea-Conakry

Plink 10 people died on Wednesday night in Siguiri, northeast Guinea-Conakry, following “violent confrontations” between security forces and prospectors whose activities were banned, the government said.

According to a statement issued by the authorities on Thursday night, the prospectors erected barricades during a “mixed patrol of defense and security forces”.

The clashes take place after the total ban on the “disordered and clandestine” exploitation of gold on November 2, in this important golden region of the country, where the army was deployed.

These decisions led the defence and security forces to expel thousands of West African citizens who had come to work in the mines of the region.

“The situation eventually degenerated into confrontations, during which there was an exchange of shots,” the statement states, without specifying the origin of the shots.

The note mentions a provisional balance sheet of ten deaths, including “five foreign citizens whose identities have not yet been established”. It wasn't mentioned if all the victims were prospectors

Thirteen people, including members of the security forces, were injured, according to the same document.

The government announced that it contacted the Attorney General with the Kankan Court of Appeal (east) and the prosecutor of the Republic of Siguiri to “fully clarify the circumstances of these events”.

“ We've been watching pursuits in and around Kintinian localities. There are reports of deaths and injuries, but we still don’t know the exact number, because no one dares venture there”, said to the news agency France-Presse (AFP) a trader who preferred not to be identified for security reasons.

One witness reported to AFP that he “saw the defense and security forces firing” in the direction of the demonstrators.

“I saw them dead when the situation calmed down a little,” another witness said, adding that “shops were vandalized.”.

Several videos circulating on social networks, which AFP failed to authenticate, show bodies lying in puddles of blood and people with serious injuries, visibly caused by gunfire.

“ My own father has been injured since last night, but he remains there without any assistance, since all the localities are taken by a violent action of the security forces ", lamented a resident of the region.

In a statement released on Thursday night, the civic movement Guinea Social Forces Forum lamented “a dozen dead and several wounded by real ammunition”.

Conakry's operations against illegal gold exploitation have caused unprecedented influx of people to Mali.

Bamaco announced on Saturday that he had welcomed some 160,000 people expelled from Guinea-Conakry, indicating having recorded six deaths and expressing concern over a “humanitarian emergency” situation.

Last week, the Government of Guinea-Conakry announced that thousands of foreign prospectors were arrested in clandestine mining sites and delivered to their embassies following the ban on this activity.

These expulsions take place in a context of strengthening the fight against illegal mining in this gold-producing country, where mines attract many West Africans, including Burkina Faso.