Dozens arrested, wounded in Togo demos: organisers

More than 100 people were wounded and 125 others arrested during demonstrations this week in Togo's capital that authorities dispersed with tear gas, leading to clashes, protest organisers said Friday.

"We have recorded about 100 injured for the time being and the complete count has not yet been done," Pedro Amuzu of the Let's Save Togo coalition told AFP.

"One hundred twenty-five people were arrested, according to provisional figures."

The government said 10 people were slightly wounded on Tuesday, including a police officer. No official figures have been given for Wednesday.

Togolese authorities sought to stop two days of protests in Lome on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of parliamentary elections expected in October, saying demonstrations could not be held in commercial areas of the city.

Let's Save Togo, a coalition of civil society and opposition groups which has organised a number of demonstrations, had already planned three days of protests beginning Tuesday when the government announced the ban.

The group vowed to follow through with the demonstrations, though protesters indicated at the last minute that the route of the march would be changed. Authorities however did not agree on the proposed changes.

Security forces fired tear gas on Tuesday and Wednesday to disperse the protests, and some demonstrators threw rocks and burnt tyres in the streets in response.

A third day of protests set for Thursday were called off due to what protest organisers called the crackdown by the Togolese government.

Another march has been scheduled for Saturday and it is not yet clear whether security forces plan to allow it to go ahead.

The coalition's coordinator, Zeus Ajavon, on Thursday called for an end to President Faure Gnassingbe's government and urged Togolese to "disobey and organise" against "illegitimate authority."

Protesters have been seeking a delay in the parliamentary elections to allow reforms to first take place as well as the repeal of changes to electoral laws that they say the government pushed through.

While the elections are expected to be held in October, no date has been set.

Togo has been run by the same family for more than four decades. Gnassingbe Eyadema ruled the country for 38 years with an iron fist until his death in 2005.

Shortly after his death was announced, the military installed his son Faure Gnassingbe as president. He has since won elections in 2005 and 2010.

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Dozens arrested in crackdown on California gang

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Federal agents and police targeting a violent street gang swept through a Southern California neighborhood Friday where earlier police killings sparked violent protests.

Federal, state and local agents raided 54 locations in Anaheim and in Los Angeles County, arresting 33 people to cap a yearlong investigation of the East Side Anaheim gang, police Sgt. Bob Dunn said.

Another 20 to 25 people already were in custody and several more were still being sought, he added.

Some of the raids concentrated on a poor, mainly Latino neighborhood known as Anna Drive where there has been a recent rise in gang activity, authorities said.

That is the neighborhood where police shot and killed Manuel Diaz, a reputed gang member who was unarmed, on July 21.

The next night, police shot and killed suspected gang member Joel Acevedo after he reportedly shot at an officer.

The killings prompted four days of violent demonstrations and a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit by Diaz's family.

Mug shots of some reputed suspects were displayed at the news conference Friday. One was named Manuel Diaz but police declined to say whether he was the same Diaz who was shot.

The raids were not related to the shootings and authorities even considered delaying them to avoid that appearance, police Chief John Welter said.

"We didn't want to be seen as coming in now and arresting a bunch of community members and having people misunderstand or again spread rumors and false information about what we were doing," he said.

"We need to regain some of the trust that has been lost as a result of some of these actions in the street by protesters," Welter said.

The gang is suspected of drug-dealing and murder and those facing federal or state drug and weapons charges could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, authorities said.

Televised reports showed a line of men, some shirtless, sitting on the curb with their hands bound behind their backs.

During the yearlong investigation dubbed Operation Halo, authorities also seized 11 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 40 guns, including assault-style rifles, sawed-off shotguns and a pistol believed used in a killing, authorities said.

The investigation was prompted by the 2011 stabbing death of a 12-year-old member of a graffiti tagging crew that is considered a "feeder" for the street gang, Dunn said.

Prosecutors say Juan Martinez was walking home from school when he was stabbed during a fight with a member of a rival tagging crew. Bryan Ocampo is charged with murder.

Violent crime in Anaheim, home of Disneyland and the Angels baseball team, jumped 10 percent last year and the number of murders nearly doubled, according to FBI crime statistics.

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