GUINEA: 90 people killed in crackdown over protests against President Conde’s third term bid –Opposition group

A leading opposition group in Guinea has alleged that no fewer than 90 people have been killed in the country in a crackdown on protests against Guinea President Alpha Conde’s bid to seek a controversial third term in elections set to be staged this weekend.

The anti-Conde coalition, National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) on Monday published a tally of 92 protesters killed since the start of the protests adding that 45 of those protesters were shot dead, and eight remain unidentified.

However, Guinea’s Security Minister Albert Damantang Camara dismissed the FNDC tally, saying that he refused to submit to a politically motivated “macabre accounting”.

“There have been violent deaths, which we regret, and we are working to ensure that this does not happen again,” he said, “but it would be very surprising if there were 92 of them”.

According to reports, opposition to a third Conde term has brought tens of thousands of Guineans to the streets since mid-October last year with many reported dead following wild protests.