aljazeera



Clashes between Christians and Muslims in eastern Guinea have left one person dead and two missing, police have said.

Another 29 people were injured in the city of Nzerekore on Friday and Saturday, they said.

Calm had been restored by Saturday evening, although sporadic gunfire was still heard in the city.

Police ordered a curfew from 7:30pm to 5am after groups of Christians and Muslims had been attacking each other with stones and clubs.

The fighting apparently started after a group of Muslims gathered to open up a mosque which was closed down by authorities late last month because of tensions between the religious communities.

Tensions in Nzerekore, a Christian enclave in the mainly Muslim country, rose last week after a row between a Christian woman and a group of Muslim men.

Some residents said the men had stopped the woman from using a road blocked for prayers and that the woman responded by hitting one of them with a shoe.

Other reports said she was accused of wearing indecent dress.

On Friday Christian youths took their revenge by trying to disturb prayers by driving motorbikes near a mosque.

Christians make up around eight per cent of the population in the West African nation.