Clashes broke out between security forces and gold miners in northeastern Guinea this week, killing at least 10 people, the West African nation’s government said on Thursday, during a crackdown on illegal mineral extraction.

The unrest took place in the mineral-rich district of Siguiri on Wednesday, according to a government statement, following a ban on November 2 on “unregulated and illegal” gold mining in the area where the military was subsequently deployed.

Gunfire broke out which left at least 10 dead, including five foreign nationals, the government said.

Thirteen people, including security force personnel, were wounded, it added, saying the government had referred the incident to public prosecutors to “fully shed light on the circumstances” of the event.

Thousands expelled

Since the gold mining ban came into force, security forces have expelled tens of thousands of foreign nationals who had come to work in the region’s mines.

Protesters had set up barricades during a patrol by security forces, the government said.

“The situation then escalated into clashes,” the government said, saying gunfire broke out without specifying its initial source.

Residents told AFP there was a heavy security and law enforcement presence, with many unable or afraid to access the areas where the clashes took place.

“I saw dead bodies once the situation calmed down a bit,” a witness told AFP, adding that “shops had been vandalised.”

Another resident told AFP his father had been wounded during the incident.

The operation against illegal gold mining has triggered a huge influx of people into neighbouring Mali.

Its government said on Saturday Mali had received around 160,000 people expelled from Guinea and expressed alarm at a “humanitarian emergency".