‘Three’ Gambian protesters killed by police

June 21, 2018

Three people have reportedly now died in The Gambia after police shot them while they were protesting against pollution.

Bakary Kujabi and Ismaila Bah died on Monday, while Amadou Nyang, 24, died in hospital on Wednesday, a local campaign group told news agency AFP.

They had been taking part in a protest at Faraba Banta, trying to bring attention to the sand mining industry which they say is polluting the rice fields.

The sand is sold to the mining industry.

Another six people and 16 police officers were killed when violence broke out.

One journalist told campaign group Human Rights Watch police reinforcements arrived and started shooting live bullets at protesters who had been blocking mining traffic – without issuing “a warning or alarm”.

Protesters threw stones at the police, another witness said.

Sabrina Mahtani, West Africa researcher at Amnesty International, said the killings “conjured up painful memories from Gambia’s recent past”.

President Adama Barrow has ordered a “full investigation”.

Five police officers were also detained after the violence.