Two people died in protests against Guinea’s ruling junta, the organisers have said, as the government on Friday urged the courts to take action against the dissidents.

The opposition alliance the Living Forces of Guinea (FVG) had called for a peaceful protest on Thursday to denounce the junta’s crackdown on dissent and to demand a return to civilian rule by the end of the year.

It marked three years to the day since the military seized power in a coup.

While the protest gathered little momentum, the FVG published a statement decrying the death of a 17-year-old boy, who they said had been shot by defence and security forces on Thursday.

The opposition coalition also said a woman had met the same fate a day earlier.

Guinea’s opposition faces brutal repression by the military-led authorities, who banned all demonstrations in 2022 after taking power on September 5, 2021.

“Those who hide behind the concept of ‘The Living Forces’ are adopting a posture of systematic confrontation, with a well-known strategy of division and intimidation”, government spokesman Ousmane Gaoual Diallo said in a statement published on X.

He accused the opponents of “intimidating” and “manipulating” young people, and urged the courts to be “inflexible” against acts of dissidence.

“Those who choose to disrupt public order and follow the path of violence will have to answer for it”, he said.

Led by Mamady Doumbouya, the junta’s clampdown on dissent has left at least 47 people dead between September 2021 and April 2024, according to Amnesty International.

Many opposition leaders have been detained, brought before the courts or forced into exile.

Two leading anti-junta activists, Oumar Sylla, better known as Fonike Mengue, and Mamadou Billo Bah, have been missing since July 9.

Under international pressure, the junta had initially pledged to hand over power to elected civilians by the end of 2024.

But it has since made little secret of its intention to renege on this commitment.