Violent protests break out after President Macky Sall postponed the presidential election for several months.
A student has been killed in the Senegalese city of Saint-Louis during violent protests against the postponement of the presidential elections.
Clashes between security forces and protesters gripped Senegal's capital and other cities on Friday, the first widespread unrest over the delay of a vote that many fear could lead to prolonged instability.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security said it had been informed of the death of student Alpha Yero Tounkara and that it would be investigated, but denied that its forces were to blame.
“The Defense and Security Forces did not intervene to maintain order on the university campus where the death occurred,” he stated.
It was not immediately clear whether protests continued Saturday. New violent clashes with security forces will heighten fears of democratic backsliding.
Less than three weeks before the February 25 presidential election, parliament voted to delay it until December, sealing an extension of President Macky Sall's term, which has raised concerns that one of the remaining democracies in West Africa hit by the coup is under threat.
Sall has reached his constitutional limit of two terms.
The vote in parliament took place after opposition lawmakers were forcibly removed from the chamber as debate continued.
After the parliament vote, 39 lawmakers from the opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi, and several opposition presidential candidates filed legal challenges against the delay with the Constitutional Court.
In a bid to calm anger, Sall said he had postponed the election to restore confidence in the electoral process after the list of candidates was called into question.
But anger remained high and critics denounced the move as an “institutional coup.”
“We are fed up with Macky Sall, he has already had two terms, what more does he want?” one protester told Al Jazeera.
