demonstrators - The African Mirror

Jul

2023

Tax-hike protesters clash with Kenyan police, two shot dead

STONE-THROWING demonstrators clashed with police and two were shot dead, officers on the scene said, in anti-tax protests in cities and towns around Kenya called by opposition leader Raila Odinga. Police fired tear gas to disperse protests in the capital Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and several other towns, according to Reuters reporters and footage aired on Kenyan television stations. Some of the most intense clashes took place on the expressway linking Nairobi to its international airport, where protesters lit fires and pulled down the flower boxes that usually line the road to use as barricades. Police officers patrolling…

May

2023

By BATE FELIX and NGOUDA DIONE

Senegal unrest flares again over opposition leader

NEWS

DOZENS of protesters clashed with security forces in Senegal's capital, Dakar, after lawmakers and supporters were blocked from visiting the home of a prominent opposition politician on trial for rape and libel. Police fired tear gas on demonstrators who built makeshift barricades along one of Dakar's main highways and in one neighbourhood set cars and a ministerial building on fire. It is the latest round in months of unrest triggered by President Macky Sall's refusal to rule out running for a third term in office and by court cases involving a leading rival, Ousmane Sonko, who denies wrongdoing and says…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Thousands protest in Athens after Greece’s deadly train crash

WORLD

CLASHES erupted briefly between police and a group of demonstrators in central Athens on the fringes of a protest by thousands of students and railway workers over Greece's deadliest train crash in living memory. A small group of protesters hurled petrol bombs at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. The protesters then disperse to nearby streets. At least 57 people were killed and dozens were injured on Tuesday when a passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided with a freight train on the same track in central Greece. After protests over the past three…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

Biden vows to ‘free Iran’ in West Coast campaign speech

WORLD

TREVOR HUNNICUTT U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to "free" Iran and said that demonstrators working against the country's government would soon succeed in freeing themselves. "Don't worry, we're gonna free Iran. They’re gonna free themselves pretty soon," Biden said during a wide-ranging campaign speech in California, as dozens of demonstrators gathered outside holding banners supporting Iranian protesters. Biden did not expand on his remarks or specify what additional actions he would take during the remarks at MiraCosta College near San Diego. The White House's National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Seven weeks of demonstrations…

Jul

2022

By EL TAYEB SIDDIG

Sudan security forces skirmish with demonstrators after protest deaths

NEWS

SUDANESE security forces fired tear gas at protesters near the presidential palace in Khartoum, a day after nine people were reported killed during the largest anti-military rallies for months. Protest groups demanding a return to democratic rule have said they will organise an open-ended campaign of sit-ins and other peaceful actions in response to the deaths. Medics aligned with the protesters said the nine people were mostly killed by gunfire from security forces in Khartoum and the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri. Sudan's ruling council and government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "The sit-in can develop…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigerian police fire teargas to break up protests

NEWS

SEUN SANNI and AFOLABI SOTUNDE POLICE fired teargas and detained several demonstrators in the Nigerian cities of Lagos and Abuja on Saturday during protests over the country's worsening security situation. Anger over mass kidnappings-for-ransom, a decade-long Islamist insurgency and a crackdown on protesters in Lagos last October has fuelled demands for the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to do more to tackle violence and insecurity. There was a heavy police presence in the country's two major cities as several hundred people gathered to protest on Democracy Day, which marks Nigeria's move to civilian rule more than 20 years ago. Reuters…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Belarusian protesters, defying army, flood Minsk

WORLD

TENS of thousands of protesters demanding Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko step down defied a warning from the military and flooded into Minsk, briefly gathering near the president's residence, before dispersing peacefully. The veteran leader denounced the demonstrators as "rats" and was seen in state media footage wearing body armour and holding a rifle, projecting an unyielding image amid the huge nationwide demonstrations that erupted after a disputed election on August 9. The protests have provided the biggest challenge yet to Lukashenko's 26 years at the helm and tested the loyalty of his security forces. Minsk's streets turned red and white…