LOME, Monday
At least one man died today in Togo’s capital after security forces broke up a barricade in the opposition stronghold of Be, where protests against the army’s naming of a new president have been strongest.
One witness said the man had been shot in the head.
A body wearing a green scarf lay on a piece of wasteground, watched over by riot police in green fatigues with helmets and shields. Spent tear gas canisters lay on the ground, and a crowd stood nearby watching.
"There was a clash between the people and the security forces," said a teacher, 31, who also declined to give his name.
"When they started throwing tear gas I ran. They threw tear gas and then they started shooting. We came back when it went quiet," said a student, 19, dressed in a white polo shirt, jeans and flip-flops, who declined to give his name.
The security forces prevented people from approaching the body and declined to comment on the incident.
Opposition leaders had earlier said between one and three people had been killed by security forces today morning. The Interior Minister denied there had been any shooting.
Meanwhile, by late morning, traffic was flowing freely along the main avenue through Be, but down narrow side streets the mood was tense and young men with shirts wrapped around their heads milled about barricades made of old cars and logs.
"We do not want this regime. The international community doesn’t want this regime. Nobody wants it," said Dede, 43, as she cut up bananas by one barricade, adding that she would have stayed at home but her fruit would have gone rotten.
Some 2,000 people defied a two-month ban on protests to demonstrate on Saturday against the army’s appointment of Faure Gnassingbe as president a week earlier. — Reuters
