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Security agents among those killed after last week’s disputed elections, state television reports, as the country remains tense.
Nearly two dozen people were killed in the violence that erupted after the disputed presidential elections in Guinea last week, state television reported Monday, as international envoys tried to defuse tensions in the West African nation.
State news channel RTG said 21 people had died since October 19, including security force officers, six fewer than figures compiled by the opposition, which claims 27 have died.
President Alpha Conde, 82, won a hotly contested election on October 18, according to official results announced Saturday, setting the stage for a controversial third term.
But his main opponent Cellou Dalein Diallo, 68, disputes the results. He claimed victory last week, citing data his supporters gathered at individual polling stations.
Diallo’s self-proclaimed victory sparked a week of clashes between his supporters and security forces across the country.
The government had previously put the death toll at 10.
Much of the turbulence centers on the possibility of a third term for Conde, whom opponents accuse of falling into authoritarianism.
He pushed for a new constitution in March, arguing that it would modernize the country. But it also allowed him to circumvent a two-term limit for presidents.
A diplomatic delegation from the United Nations, the African Union and the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States landed in Guinea on Sunday after the unrest.
The envoys, which include the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, and the UN special representative in West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, met on Monday with several ministers and government officials.
An ECOWAS official in Conakry said they also spoke with representatives of Guinea’s electoral commission and foreign diplomats.
Diallo told AFP news agency that the envoys also met him at his Conakry home, which the police have blocked for days.
Anti-Conde protests were due to resume in the city early Monday and many shops remained closed, but few people ended up taking to the streets.
“In my neighborhood, people say they are waiting to see the outcome of the joint mission,” said a suburban resident who did not want to be named.
Scars from the riots were evident in the Conakry neighborhood in Wanindara, an opposition stronghold, with burned vehicles lying on the side of the road.
Mohamed Saliou Camara, whose house was burned down, said Conde and Diallo’s supporters had clashed in the area.
The opposition claims that at least 27 have died in the violence [John Wessels/AFP]
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