A 19-year-old student was killed in Conakry, Guinea during a rally sparked by fuel price hikes, according to opposition and civil society groups.
One of the protestors, Amadou Diouma Diallo, told the Associated Press that before the student was killed, police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse the protesters.
“During the day, the riot police used tear gas to disperse us. There was calm. Then at night, the demonstrations resumed. The police came to fire warning shots,” killing the young man, Diallo said.
“I don’t know who fired, but I saw the youngster fall in the neighborhood," Idrissa Kanté, another protester, told Associated Press.
The National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of civil society groups that oppose the junta, accused defense and security forces of using live ammunition.
"Unfortunately, the FNDC notes that the CNRD [the National Rallying Committee for Development] like the previous regimes which, instead of providing appropriate solutions to the problems of the populations, is becoming more and more violent in its approach," the FNDC said in a statement.
The ruling military junta has not yet issued any statement about the incident.
The junta had banned political protests in May, after announcing a three-year transition period before civilian rule is restored. It also rejected an appeal late Tuesday by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights for the ban to be revoked.
Guinea’s former President Alpha Conde was overthrown in a coup in September last year that brought the junta into power.