The Senegalese government announced, Thursday, June 4, a reduction in the night curfew and a resumption of transport between cities after two nights of incidents and protests against measures to contain the new coronavirus. The curfew which came into effect at 9 p.m. (local and GMT) is postponed to 11 p.m. and ends at 5 a.m., Interior Minister Aly Ngouille Ndiaye announced. "From this day, the lifting of the transport restrictions on the national territory will be pronounced with the maintenance of the curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.", said the minister in an intervention broadcast on the public television. "Meetings in public or private places, restaurants, sports halls, casinos will benefit from these same flexibility measures," he added.

Dakar and several cities were the scene of protests over the past two nights. Senegalese took to the streets after the curfew came into effect, setting fire to tires, setting up roadblocks and throwing stones at the police. The police and gendarmes dispersed the protesters with tear gas. The army, already mobilized beforehand, gave its support and social networks disseminated images of military vehicles in the streets. 

The dispute has, exceptionally, affected the religious city of Touba, 200 km east of Dakar. Police vehicles and an ambulance were burned there and the Covid-19 patient treatment center was attacked, an official said. More than 200 people have been arrested in the country, said the interior minister.

In Madagascar, riots also took place Wednesday in Toamasina, the second city of the country. The demonstrators erected dams and set tires on fire to protest against the containment measures still in force in this agglomeration. 

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