WEDNESDAY, 4.00PM
THE Comorian army moved in to restore calm on the island of Anjouan after violent clashes between security forces and separatist militants there, residents said on Wednesday.
In unrest sparked by the arrest on Monday of separatist leader Abdallah Ibrahim, two police officers were seriously wounded in Domoni, where protesters torched the residence of the new governor. There was also unrest in Mutsamudu, Anjouan’s main town.
The army on Tuesday began closing off some of the main roads leading into Mutsamudu and mounted patrols throughout the town, according to residents. Reinforcements were also sent to Domoni among some 120 police and soldiers who were sent recently to Anjouan to bolster an existing force of between 200 and 250 troops.
Backers of the Organisation for the Independence of Anjouan, who want the island reattached to the former colonial power France, renounced the authority of Moroni at the weekend and called for their own leaders to be installed in Anjouan.
The Indian Ocean archipelago, which obtained independence from France in 1975, also includes the islands of Grande Comore, where Moroni is located, and Moheli. A fourth island, Mayotte, opted through a referendum to stay under French administration.
In Paris the French foreign ministry on Wednesday denounced the separatist movement.