Benin: Benin police killed two protesters Saturday while trying to break up a demonstration by people who have erected barricades and blockaded the national road since Tuesday, the city's mayor told AFP.
"This morning, a contingent of the republican police came to clear the roadblocks," Timothee Biaou said. "Gunfire was exchanged between police and masked individuals. Seven civilians were taken to hospital and there were also two deaths."
Soldiers opened fire during clashes with protesters in the West African country of Benin on Friday as violence erupted after four days of demonstrations following controversial parliamentary elections in April, witnesses said.
"Security forces are present everywhere in the town and on the main road to try to clear the barricades" said a local politician, speaking on condition of anonymity, of violence in the towns of Save and Tchaourou, in central Benin.
"The army is firing live ammunition, the violence is extreme."
