Shooting was heard in military bases across Guinea overnight, as soldiers apparently protested to demand promised pay raises from a government shaken by rioting and general strikes earlier this year, witnesses said today. According to the Associated Press, the first shots were heard in the interior Wednesday night, with residents in Kindia, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of the capital of Conakry, saying military barracks there erupted in gunfire and stray bullets sent more than a dozen people to the hospital. Government ministers were set to meet today to address the issue. Government officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment. «We have received about 20 injured between Wednesday night and Thursday that we treated with what little we have. Many of the injuries were gunshots in the arm, back, or in the face from stray bullets,» said Amidou Cisse, a doctor at the Kindia hospital. A police report said 25 civilians were injured by stray bullets in Kindia. Residents in Conakry, along with interior towns of Labe, Macenta, Gueckedou and Faranah said they heard shooting at bases there throughout Thursday night. «They go out in the streets and shoot in the air and ask for their money from the president,» said Haadi Diallo, resident of Conakry's Simbaya neighborhood, a suburb near the military camp Alpha Yaya. -- SPA
