Opposition backers, police clash
2009-12-25 17:07
Moroni - Clashes erupted between opposition supporters and police on the Comoros isle of Anjouan in the Indian Ocean, officials said on Friday.
Supporters of one-time Anjouan presidential candidate Mohamed Djaanfari blocked the main road between the capital of Mutsamudu and Sima at the start of the week.
Officers intervened on Wednesday to remove the demonstrators, a police official told AFP.
Residents in Sima said that homes and local businesses had been vandalised during the protest and one witness told AFP that "several people had been arrested".
Local media quoted Djaanfari as saying on Friday that security forces ransacked his home.
Police have yet to make an official statement on the operation.
The Comoros consists of the islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, each governed by a local president and parliament, with the federal presidency rotating between them.
Djaanfari obtained 47.58% of the vote in Anjouan's 2008 elections when he ran against Moussa Toybou, who backed the president of the Union of Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi.