Security forces in Gabon have arrested more than 1,000 people during a second day of violent protests following disputed presidential elections.
Reports say three people have been killed in the capital, Libreville.
Opposition supporters took to the streets after it was announced that President Ali Bongo had been narrowly re-elected in Wednesday’s vote.
Opposition leader Jean Ping, who is in hiding, told the BBC that his party headquarters had been bombed.
The UN, US and former colonial power France have called for restraint and greater transparency about the results.
Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya said on Thursday that 800 people had been arrested in Libreville and 400 in other areas of the country.
Security forces cracked down after protesters attacked the national assembly building late on Wednesday, tearing down its main gate.
On Thursday the building’s facade was blackened by fire and its windows were smashed. Burned-out cars littered nearby streets.
In a national address, Mr Bongo said “democracy does not sit well with an attack on parliament”.
Police used tear gas to prevent crowds from gathering there again and arrested people as they emerged from remains of the building.
The BBC’s Charles Stephane Mavoungou in Libreville says people there have been unable to access the internet.
Meanwhile, Jean Ping told the BBC that a presidential guard helicopter had bombed his headquarters and killed two people.
“They attacked around 01:00 (00:00 GMT),” he said. “They were bombarding with helicopters and then they attacked on the ground.”
Security forces were surrounding the building on Thursday night and had detained members of the opposition National Union party inside, a spokeswoman for the party said.
It was not immediately clear where Mr Ping had gone into hiding but a European diplomat quoted by AFP news agency said he was safe.
Witnesses said security forces had sealed off central Libreville.
The official election result, announced on Wednesday afternoon, gave Mr Bongo a second seven-year term with 49.8% of the vote to Mr Ping’s 48.2% – a margin of 5,594 votes.
But Mr Ping said the election was fraudulent.
Mr Bongo took office in 2009 after an election marred by violence, succeeding his father Omar Bongo who had come to power in 1967.
Mr Ping had been a close ally of Omar Bongo, serving him in ministerial roles and having two children with his daughter, Pascaline, a former Gabonese foreign minister. – BBC.
