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Beninese police killed two protesters on Saturday as she was trying to disperse a demonstration organized by people who erected barricades and blocked the national highway since Tuesday, said the city's mayor to AFP.
"This morning, a contingent of the Republican police came to cross the roadblocks," said Timothée Biaou. "Gunshots were exchanged between the police and masked individuals. Seven civilians were taken to the hospital and two people died.
Soldiers also opened fire during clashes with protesters Friday in the country of Benin, West Africa, while violence erupted after protests after controversial parliamentary elections in April. declared witnesses.
"Security forces are present all over the city and on the main road to try to clear the barricades," said a local politician, speaking on condition of anonymity, about the violence. in the cities of Save and Tchaourou, in central Benin.
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"The army fires live bullets, the violence is extreme."
The region is the base of former President Thomas Boni Yayi, a virulent critic of the government.
The protesters have been demonstrating for four days.
They demand the lifting of a cordon of police around the house of Boni Yayi in the economic capital of the country, Cotonou.
Boni Yayi has been locked up inside his country under house arrest since the polls.
"Young people have re-established roadblocks this morning on the road," said Timothee Biaou, Mayor of Save, saying that soldiers also shot at them with live ammunition, and that two people were seriously injured. .
Photos and videos circulate on social media showing protesters and wounded soldiers.
A doctor confirmed that the wounded soldiers had been transported to the hospital, but he gave no further details.
The first demonstrations took place in Benin after the legislative elections of April 28, during which at least four people died.
The crisis fueled concerns of an authoritarian turnaround in a country once considered a democratic example in the region.
The election was held without any opposition candidates and the 83 members of Parliament came from only two parties allowed to participate, all of them allied with President Patrice Talon.
Changes to the electoral rules had effectively prevented opposition parties from running candidates.
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