Guinea junta troops shot and killed at least 157 people, wounded more than 1,000, and raped women when they broke up a huge rally in a stadium, opposition leaders said today amid deadly new unrest.
Gunfire rang out across the capital Conakry and a youth was killed, witnesses said. Troops were again attacking people and raping women in their homes, rights groups said.
The United Nations, African Union and European Union all expressed alarm over the killings when tens of thousands of people Monday attended a rally against junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara, who took power in December 2008.
But much of Conakry remained closed today, with inhabitants stunned by the clampdown in the city's September 28 stadium.
The Guinean Human Rights Organisation said that 157 dead were taken to two Conakry hospitals after the shootings in the stadium. The opposition has accused junta forces of collecting bodies in a bid to hide "the scale of the massacre".
"Up until now we have counted 157 dead and 1,253 wounded. Our people have been all around Conakry and in hospitals but they haven't been able to see everything," rights group head Thierno Maadjou Sow said.
{{/usCountry}}"Up until now we have counted 157 dead and 1,253 wounded. Our people have been all around Conakry and in hospitals but they haven't been able to see everything," rights group head Thierno Maadjou Sow said.
{{/usCountry}}Sydia Toure, one of two former prime ministers injured at the protest, told AFP that the shootings were "a deliberate attempt" to eliminate the opposition.