MORONI, April 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Security forces in Comoros have used tear gas to disperse people who had congregated in mosques in violation of the country’s coronavirus lockdown regulations.
This happened on the island of Anjouan late on Saturday and has been condemned by opposition politicians.
President Azali Assoumani has imposed a nightly curfew even though the Indian Ocean archipelago is one of only two nations in Africa that is yet to record a single case of the virus.
A witness said that “people were injured, most of them fled through the windows, one of them broke their foot”, adding that “even this morning there was still a smell of gas in the area.”
The Comoros – a predominantly Muslim Indian Ocean island group with around 40 per cent of its population living in poverty according to the World Bank – is one of few countries without any officially registered coronavirus cases.
Opposition alliance the National Transitional Council condemned the action, saying Assoumani’s army had “used teargas grenades and firearms against peaceful demonstrators” with the pretext of fighting against the spread of the coronavirus, “the existence of which he denies.”
In 2018, Anjouan was rocked by violent clashes between armed rebels opposed to Azali and the army that lasted for a week. — NNN-AGENCIES
