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COMOROS-POLITICS-UNREST
Renewed clashes rock Comoros island
MORONI, Comoros, Oct 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Government forces and opponents
of President Azali Assoumani exchanged gunfire on the Comoros island of
Anjouan on Tuesday, said residents of the main town Mutsamudu.
Instability has rocked the Indian Ocean archipelago since July when
Assoumani won a referendum on constitutional changes that includes ending the
traditional rotation of the presidency between the country’s three main
islands after one term.
Assoumani, from Grand Comore island, launched a crackdown on rivals
following the poll, which was boycotted by opposition parties and which he
won with 92.74 percent support.
Gunfire erupted in Mutsamudu on Monday when security forces deployed to
dismantle barricades erected by anti-government activists who authorities
accused of being armed members of the Juwa opposition party.
Officials imposed an overnight curfew on Mutsamudu but there was unrest in
the medina, a warren of narrow streets and alleyways, witnesses said by
phone.
Witnesses told AFP that some protesters were armed with automatic weapons.
“They wore balaclavas, wore military uniforms and occupied the medina,”
said one of the men, a former soldier who requested anonymity.
“The security forces weren’t able to penetrate, they were too exposed and
it would have been a turkey shoot.”
The army, loyal to Assoumani, blocked key entrances and exits to the
market on Tuesday, residents said.
Under July’s constitutional changes, Assoumani, who previously came to
power in a military coup and was elected in 2016, will be able to run for
consecutive terms.
He has indicated that he hopes to stage polls next year which would allow
him to reset his term limits and theoretically rule until 2029.
His critics have accused him of a “dictatorial power grab”.
BSS/AFP/RY/1510 hrs