Gold Rush In Guinea Triggers Bloodshed
Sumaira FH Published July 23, 2018 | 07:52 PM
At least 23 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a gold rush in northern Guinea that has led to hundreds of shooting incidents, according to hospital and security sources.
Conakry, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jul, 2018 ) :At least 23 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a gold rush in northern Guinea that has led to hundreds of shooting incidents, according to hospital and security sources.
"Our services recorded 313 shootings from January 1 to June 30, in which about 20 people died and dozens of others were wounded," a senior state official said.
State hospital sources in Siguiri, a town on the Niger river near the border with Mali, said on Friday that at least 23 people had been killed since the start of the year.
"The number of casualties may be higher because some of the wounded are being treated in private clinics and there are also corpses which are still lying on the ground," the head of emergency services at the regional hospital, Balla Moussa Keita, told AFP.
"The Siguiri region has abundant deposits of gold -- it is the most dangerous part of the country," the state official told AFP.
The violence is due "not only to the riches beneath the soil, which attract gangsters, but also due to repeated clashes between villagers over land rights, as well as the influx of clandestine diggers from every neighbouring country," he added.
"The villagers are armed, the clandestine arrivals are armed and the mining zones are over-crowded," he warned.
Guinea has gold, diamonds, bauxite and prodigious reserves of iron ore.
In Kouremale, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Siguiri, clashes erupted during a wedding procession by Malians in Guinean territory, leaving one person dead and numerous injured, according to the Guinean authorities.
A violent dispute between gold diggers in November last year at the mining site of Niaouleni, another border area, left at least six dead.
Neighbouring Mali has recently been affected by armed jihadist activity, while Liberia and Sierra Leone to the south both endured long civil wars that lasted into the early years of the 21st century and left the region awash with weapons.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 25 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 25 April 2024
Mired in crisis, Boeing reports another loss
Session Awarding Ceremony 2024 held at Cadet College Muzaffarabad
Austrian ski great Hirscher to make comeback under Dutch flag
Pakistan, Japan agrees to convene 'Economic Policy Dialogue'
FM Dar conveys deepest sympathy on torrential rains devastation in UAE
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 1st update
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
Osaka seals first win on clay since 2022 in Madrid
Earthquake jolts Karachi
More Stories From World
-
Star Dudamel brings inclusive vision to New York Philharmonic
43 minutes ago -
Paris dream of swimming in the Seine finally within reach
1 hour ago -
Portugal's Carnation Revolution, 50 years on
1 hour ago -
Tough times for Argentine factories as consumers penny-pinch
1 hour ago -
Use of alcohol and e-cigarettes among youth 'alarming': WHO
1 hour ago -
Football: Italian Cup result
2 hours ago
-
Bird flu in humans? Experts see little risk
2 hours ago -
Car giants vie for EV crown at Beijing's Auto China show
2 hours ago -
Meta profits soar but costs of AI cause worry
2 hours ago -
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - collated
2 hours ago -
Football: French Ligue 1 results - collated
2 hours ago -
Meta sees profits soar in first quarter
2 hours ago