One person was killed and several others injured as riots by disgruntled residents of Guinea’s main bauxite mining hub extended into a fourth day on Thursday, police and residents said.
The West African nation’s largest mining companies Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) and Companie Bauxite de Guinee (CBG) said they had resumed normal operations but said equipment was damaged and tensions remained.
Guinea possesses about a third of the world’s reserves of the aluminum ore bauxite, but mining has stoked discontent among a population that remains largely poor and unemployed. The unrest erupted on Monday night when residents erected barricades and burned tyres in the city of Boke to protest high pollution levels and power cuts, according to government and company officials.
Police were sent to rein in the protests the following day, and intermittent violence has continued. “Shooting broke out again today because the police were patrolling and there were clashes. Young people have begun to erect barricades again,” said Mamadou Diallo, a resident of Boke.
He said he had seen several people with gunshot wounds being treated in a local hospital.
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