The deaths happened amid a strike that paralyzed Conakry and disrupted some mining operations. It has also emptied the main thoroughfares, closed banks and shuttered markets.
There were pockets of unrest in some residential areas on Monday where groups of young men took to the streets to express frustration with living conditions in the junta-led West African nation.
The mother of 18-year-old student Mamady Keïta said her son died after being shot in the chest in the Sonfonia district. Motorbike taxi driver Ibrahima Touré, 21, also died from a bullet wound after clashes with security forces in another district, his father said. A hospital source confirmed both deaths.
There was no immediate comment from police, but a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Keita's death without giving further details.
It was not immediately clear if there would be further unrest on Tuesday, but the strike, which includes the public, private and informal sectors, is set to continue.
An umbrella group for multiple workers’ unions have expressed several demands, among them the lowering of food prices, the lifting of internet restrictions, and the application of a wage deal reached with the government in November.
There has been no official response from the government, which was set up by a military junta that seized power in a 2021 coup. It has quashed recurring anti-government protests, sometimes violently, in the last few years.
Guinea is the world's second-largest bauxite producer. Traders on Monday said alumina prices in China were trading higher due to the strike, but the impact was limited for now due to Chinese inventories.
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