{"id":8252,"date":"2019-02-12T11:32:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T03:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=8252"},"modified":"2019-02-12T11:32:54","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T03:32:54","slug":"pro-govt-supporter-killed-in-senegal-clashes-ahead-of-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=8252","title":{"rendered":"Pro-govt supporter killed in Senegal clashes ahead of polls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bssnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/73e7f16c247667e1a8e7594e8409b23d0d5c5ec6.jpg\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.bssnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/73e7f16c247667e1a8e7594e8409b23d0d5c5ec6-696x463.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>DAKAR, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) \u2013 A pro-government campaigner was killed in eastern Senegal on Monday, in the first fatality from a string of pre-election clashes between supporters of President Macky Sall and the opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A police official said the individual was stabbed during \u201cscuffles\u201d between the Unity and Assembly Party (PUR), which is led by opposition leader Issa Sall, and pro-government campaigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The body was taken to a hospital in Tamboucounda, about 400 kilometres  east of the capital Dakar, the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A police source said a motorcyclist was killed by a vehicle speeding away from the scene of the stabbing. A journalists\u2019 association meanwhile said eight reporters were also injured in the violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Macky Sall told an election meeting that the stabbing victim was a member of his governing Alliance for the Republic (APR) and called for \u201clight to be shed (on the killing) so that the electoral campaign does not become a pretext for violence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Violence has buffeted Senegal ahead of presidential elections on Feb 24, despite appeals for calm from religious leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The president urged his supporters not \u201cto succumb to provocations\u201d and called upon political rivals to issue similar appeals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a result of a call to violence issued by certain politicians,\u201d the president said of the death, adding: \u201cThey will have to answer for their actions in court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Five human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights (RADDHO), said they wanted to \u201cremind election candidates and coalitions of their duty\u201d to tell their supporters not to resort to violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Sunday at least two people were \u201cseriously injured\u201d in Fatick, a presidential stronghold in Senegal\u2019s centre-west, in clashes with supporters of rising opposition candidate Ousmane Sonko, local media reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four people, all Sonko supporters, were badly hurt on Feb 4 in the northern city of Saint-Louis, Sonko\u2019s campaign said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senegal, a former French colony, is seen as a beacon of democracy and relative prosperity in West Africa. &#8212; NNN-AGENCIES<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAKAR, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) \u2013 A pro-government campaigner was killed in eastern Senegal on Monday, in the first fatality from a string of pre-election clashes between supporters of President Macky Sall and the opposition. A police official said the individual was stabbed during \u201cscuffles\u201d between the Unity and Assembly Party (PUR), which is led by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8252"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}