Togo opposition accuses govt of brutal crackdown

LOME, Dec 09 (AFP): Togo's opposition has accused the government of deploying police and soldiers in a brutal crackdown in which two protesters were killed during a rally against upcoming elections. Security forces fired teargas and fought running battles on Saturday with demonstrators in the capital, Lome, and several other cities across the country.

Both the government and the coalition of 14 opposition parties said there were unconfirmed reports of a third fatality.

Four members of the security forces were injured and 28 protesters were detained, the government said.

But the leader of the opposition alliance, Jean-Pierre Fabre, said late Saturday the authorities had put down the protests with their "customary brutality".

The government of President Faure Gnassingbe earlier this week banned 10 planned protests in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for December 20.