CONAKRY: Ten people were killed in violent confrontations with defense and security forces in a gold-producing region of northeastern Guinea, according to a statement released by the country’s Ministry of Territorial Administration.
Guinea imposed a ban on artisanal gold mining in Siguiri on November 2. Authorities said the miners’ disregard for regulations had caused significant environmental damage, including the pollution of farmland, rivers, and vegetation.
In a statement issued late Thursday, the ministry said the clashes broke out on Wednesday while security forces were enforcing the ban.
According to the ministry, tensions escalated into an exchange of gunfire after demonstrators set up barricades across public roads.
Preliminary ministry figures indicated that ten people, five of them foreign nationals, were killed and 13 others injured. The nationalities of the foreign victims were not disclosed.
Mali reported last week that roughly 100,000 people had arrived in its capital, Bamako, and nearly 60,000 more in the border town of Kouremale after being forced out of Guinea when the mining ban was announced.
On Friday, Burkina Faso said it had repatriated 45,406 of its citizens who had been compelled to leave Guinea in the wake of the ban.
Artisanal mining, fueled by surging demand for metals and rising prices, remains a widespread livelihood across much of West Africa.
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