At least four dead in anti-government protests in Togo

At least four people have been killed across the small West African nation of Togo in clashes between security forces and protesters demanding an end to the rule of President Faure Gnassingbe.

Security Minister Colonel Damehame Yark said Wednesday that one person was shot dead in the capital, Lome, while three others were killed in Togo’s second-largest city of Sokode, more than 300 kilometers north of Lome.


Yark says 60 demonstrators were arrested in Wednesday’s clashes.

Opposition leaders have planned two days of demonstrations against Gnassingbe, who has been in power since 2005, succeeding his late father President Gnassingbé Eyadema.

Protests have broken out across Togo since August over the current president’s proposal to amend the constitution by removing presidential term limits, which could potentially allow him to stay in office until at least 2030.

The elder Gnassingbe himself served as president of Togo from 1968 until his death.