by Nurat Uthman
Senegalese security forces fired tear gas at protesters in the capital Friday as mounting anger over the postponement of a presidential election claimed a first death.
A student was killed in the northern town of Saint-Louis, according to associates of the man, as protests spread around the West African country.
Police fired tear gas to stop demonstrators getting to the Place de la Nation in central Dakar, where a rally had been planned. Hundreds of demonstrators threw stones at police and set fire to tyres.
Anger has mounted since President Macky Sallpostponed a presidential election scheduled February 25 until December.
“The situation is deplorable. We came to pray and we got gassed. It’s intolerable,” Thierno Alassane Sall, one of the 20 candidates who had been due to vie for the presidency, told newsmen.
Clashes spread to other areas of the capital, closing main roads, rail lines and main markets.
Demonstrations also took place in other towns, according to social network reports.
The death of the student in Saint-Louis was confirmed to AFP by a local hospital source speaking on condition of anonymity and an official at the university the student attended.
Police also dispersed a protest by about 200 people in Nioro du Rip, some 250 kilometres (150 miles) east of Dakar, an AFP reporter saw.
Authorities have not given a toll for the week of protests.
