Guinea’s government says 10 people were killed and 13 injured in clashes linked to a security operation enforcing restrictions on illegal gold mining in the country’s northeastern Siguiri region.
The violence took place on Wednesday, 11 November, in Balato, within Kintinian sub-prefecture. The provisional casualty figures were announced in a government communiqué dated Thursday and published online on Friday, 13 November.
Reuters and the Associated Press independently reported the government’s account on Friday.
Government says patrol was blocked
According to the communiqué, a joint defence and security patrol was checking compliance with a 2 November order prohibiting unregulated and illegal artisanal gold mining.
The government said protesters erected barricades and obstructed the patrol before the confrontation escalated into exchanges of gunfire. It did not identify who fired first, and the precise circumstances remain under investigation.
Regional health authorities recorded 10 deaths, including five foreign nationals whose identities had not been established. The 13 injured included civilians and members of the security forces and were receiving treatment at Siguiri Regional Hospital, the government said.
The figures remain provisional. BaretaNews has not independently verified the identities of the victims or the sequence of events at the scene.
Vehicles and mining equipment damaged
Authorities also reported that two pick-up vehicles, a security-forces truck and two crushing machines were burned. A structure used to store alcohol was destroyed, several shelters were vandalised, and a weapon and motorcycle were reported missing.
The government said prosecutors in Kankan and Siguiri had been instructed to establish the circumstances, determine responsibility and bring any appropriate proceedings.
Crackdown raises regional concern
Siguiri is one of Guinea’s principal gold-producing areas and attracts workers from across West Africa. Authorities have intensified action against unauthorised mining, citing damage to farmland and pollution of waterways.
The Associated Press reported that more than 1,200 suspected illegal miners had been arrested earlier in November and that the crackdown had driven thousands of miners and relatives towards neighbouring Mali.
Guinean authorities called for calm while maintaining that restrictions on illegal mining would continue. Further changes to the death toll or findings from the judicial investigation should be treated as developing information.
