Comoros Army Starts Operation To Disperse Rebels: Minister

Comoros army starts operation to disperse rebels: Minister

The Comoros military on Saturday started an operation to disperse armed rebels who took control of Mutsamudu's old city centre on the island of Anjouan earlier this week, a government minister said.

Mutsamudu, Comoros, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Oct, 2018 ) :The Comoros military on Saturday started an operation to disperse armed rebels who took control of Mutsamudu's old city centre on the island of Anjouan earlier this week, a government minister said.

Security forces and rebels opposed to President Azali Assoumani have fought in the narrow streets of the medina quarter in Mutsamudu since Monday, with at least three people killed.

Tensions in the coup-prone Indian Ocean archipelago have mounted in recent months as Assoumani bids to extend term limits through constitutional changes that could see him rule for 11 more years.

"The army has started to take up positions inside the medina, no shots have been fired. The forces are content to secure the medina so that the population can move freely," education Minister Mahamoud Salim Hafi, who has led the government response to the uprising, told AFP.

Hafi said some rebels remained holed up in houses, but said no military assault would be needed to clear them out.

"I guarantee that from Monday, life will resume normally in Mutsamudu," he added.

An amnesty deal signed between the main opposition Juwa party and government on Friday appeared to have been rejected by the rebels, who were estimated to be about 40 strong.

Assoumani won a widely-criticised referendum in July allowing him to scrap the rotation of the presidency between Comoros' three main islands, disadvantaging opposition-leaning Anjouan, which was next in line.