Military calls for reinforcement in Alavanyo

The military has called for reinforcement at Alavanyo-Dzogbefeme following fresh shootings involving a military officer and a 70-year-old farmer.

Two persons were shot dead and six others injured during a shootout between the youth of the area and some military men on Sunday.

Security chiefs, including the Regional Police Commander, Mr Ebenezer Francis Doku, at a meeting in Kpando, described the situation as very serious and needing military reinforcement.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) learnt that more security personnel had been dispatched to the area after a high-powered delegation from the Regional Security Council was sent there.

Earlier, the Regional Police Commander told the GNA that the area was under control and that the military acted in self-defence in the incident that resulted in the death of the two persons.

He told the GNA that the military went to the community on Sunday to "negotiate" with the chief to appeal to the youth to release an AK47 rifle they seized from a police officer they attacked that morning.

The commander said midway through the negotiation, the military noted electricity blackout and sporadic shootings from nearby bushes, which compelled the soldiers to return fire, resulting in the death of the two.

He said the youth on Sunday afternoon attacked a police operation team that was in the area after it picked intelligence of the massing up of arms in the community.

Mr Doku said the youth ambushed the police team, encircled it and struck the head of one and took his rifle and handcuffs.

The commander said other members of the team who retreated made a report to the Kpando Police, which informed the military about the incident and the need to help retrieve the AK47 rifle.

The dead bodies have been taken to the morgue and the injured receiving medical attention at Margaret Marquart Hospital at Kpando while the military officer has been rushed to the Volta Regional Hospital at Ho.