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In southern Mauritania, three people died after being arrested in unrest sparked by election protests. The government announced the deaths after declaring outgoing President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani the winner of the presidential election.
Unrest intensified in Kaedi, in the Senegal River Valley, with looting and vandalism breaking out overnight from Monday to Tuesday. Faced with this violence, security forces confronted rioters and arrested several people, two of whom died in custody, and a third later died in hospital, according to a press release from the Ministry of the Interior.
The unrest came amid strong protests following the release of provisional results of the presidential election, which saw Ghazouani win a landslide victory in the first round with 56.12% of the vote. Biram Daher Abed, who came in second, condemned the fraud and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. He called on Mauritanians to demonstrate peacefully against what he called an electoral scam.
The government promised a transparent investigation into the deaths of protesters. In addition, Biram Daher Abed reached out to the authorities, suggesting that the crisis can only be resolved through dialogue between all parties. Calls for demonstrations are growing, but the authorities insist on maintaining order.
Although Nouakchott was back calm and open for business, mobile internet remained cut off from Monday night into Tuesday. The cuts recalled similar measures taken during the 2019 elections, which also saw riots and days of internet shutdowns.
Mauritania is a country of 4.9 million inhabitants that, unlike its Sahel neighbors such as Mali, has been relatively unscathed by jihadist attacks since 2011. If the election results are confirmed by the Constitutional Council, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, who has been in power since 2019, will lead the country for a new five-year term.
Located between North and sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritania stands out in a region rife with insecurity and coups. In addition, the country is poised to become a major natural gas producer, which could strengthen its economic and geopolitical role in the coming years.
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