Bamako - Police in Mali's capital Bamako
fired into the air on Monday to disperse protesters calling for
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign, witnesses said,
hours after the United Nations condemned the use of lethal force
against demonstrators.
Several people were injured by falling bullets and tear gas
canisters in the Badalabougou neighbourhood, a hotbed of a
month-long protest movement denouncing Keita's failure to quash
militia violence or address the disputed results of recent
legislative elections, three witnesses said.
The government declined requests for comment.
The clashes came after a chaotic few days in Bamako
beginning on Friday, when demonstrators occupied state buildings
and police opened fire.
The M5-RFP, a coalition of religious, political and civil
society leaders leading the protests, said on Monday that 20
people had been killed since Friday. The government has
acknowledged four deaths.
The M5-RFP has rejected concessions offered by Keita as
insufficient, including his offer to dissolve the Constitutional
Court.
A Reuters witness heard gunfire in Badalabougou on Monday
and said groups of young men were manning improvised barricades.
"It all started around 7:30 a.m., the police came and
dismantled some of our barricades. The clashes started, they
fired incessantly, gas of all kinds and firearms," said
33-year-old trader Mohamed Doumbia.
Monday's clashes came after the U.N. mission in Mali, the
African Union, West African regional bloc ECOWAS and the
European Union jointly criticised Malian authorities for their
response to the protests.
The organisations "condemn the use of lethal force in the
context of maintaining public order and invite all stakeholders
to exercise restraint," they said in a statement late on Sunday.
M5-RFP leaders arrested over the weekend should be released
"to create the conditions for political dialogue", it said.
International powers fear political turmoil in Mali could
undermine their military campaigns against Islamist insurgents
in West Africa's Sahel region. The United Nations has over
13,000 peacekeeping soldiers in Mali, the epicentre of much of
the violence.