by Nurat Uthman
Three people have died after being arrested during riots in southern Mauritania, the government said on Tuesday, July 2, as the election victory of incumbent President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani raised tensions in the West African country.
Looting and vandalism broke out in the town of Kaedi in the Senegal river valley on Monday night, with security forces arresting a number of “rioters”, the interior ministry said in a statement. Two of the rioters died in custody and the third died later in hospital, it said.
The ministry did not provide further details on the circumstances of the deaths. It said there were limited options to detain rioters due to the late hour and the large number of demonstrators. Two members of the security forces were seriously injured, one of whom was admitted to intensive care, the ministry said. It pledged a “transparent and thorough investigation” to establish the causes of the deaths.
The interior ministry did not mention any political motivation behind the unrest. But it took place against a tense backdrop after final provisional election results announced on Monday gave Ghazouani a comfortable victory in Saturday’s presidential poll.
Dozens of people were arrested following disturbances late on Monday in the capital Nouakchott and the northern city of Nouadhibou, a souce close to the police told AFP, adding that many of those arrested were “foreigners”.
