The Caribbean nation of Guyana has declared an official day of mourning on 25 February for 23 people murdered in two mass shootings.
The first massacre occurred on 26 January in the coastal village of Lusignan. A group of men broke down the doors of houses while firing guns. 11 people were killed, mainly women and children asleep in bed.
The second incident took place at a police station in the small mining town of Bartica. Reports say that six men arrived in a speedboat and barged into a police station firing assault rifles. Three police officers were killed. The attackers then began firing indiscriminately at civilians nearby, killing nine people including five who were sleeping in hammocks.
President Bharrat Jagdeo met with MPs and representatives from civil society in the aftermath of the Bartia shooting.
IANSA campaigner Cesar Marin, in the neighbouring country of Venezuela, said, 'Our sympathies are with the survivors and the families of the victims. These atrocities have outraged the people of Guyana and in the wider Caribbean. We hope the region will now strengthen and speed up its committment to tackling armed violence.' |
