The Monday morning bloody clash involving the Police Intervention Unit officers and Faraba Bantang youths has left two deaths. Bakary Kujabi and Ebrima Bah – both residents of the Kombo East village – have reportedly died of gunshot wounds.
The clash, which precedes earlier acts of defiance, is exacerbated by what the youths deem illegal sand mining by Julakay Engineering and Construction Company in the outskirts of Faraba Banta.
Escorted by a masquerader (kankurangno), the defiant youths disrupt sand mining in the area where PIU officers have been stationed. In the process, they (youths) started open altercation with PIU officers who, according to information we gather, fired live bullets after draining out gas gangsters. Apart from the deaths of Kujabi and Bah whose lifeless bodies have been circulating on the social media (Kairo News does not publish the pictures due to their graphic nature), scores of people, including 10 PIU officers, sustain serious injuries. The injured persons have been rushed to the hospital for treatment. Scores of vehicles are said to have been destroyed during the bloody altercation.
It is reported that the youths outnumber and overpower the PIU officers to the extent that the Gambia Armed Forces have been alerted to help contain an already explosive situation. Kairo News could not independently verify as to whether the army is contacted.
However, recorded audios of some protesting Faraba Banta youths loaded have with tone of defiance and resoluteness to bar any sand mining in tfilled social media platforms. The tone in these audios bear defiance and resoluteness to bar sand mining in Faraba Banta.
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