BBCCopyright: BBC
Ghana’s national security ministry has defended the actions of its personnel who have been accused of brutality against civilians in an operation in the north of the country at the weekend.
The ministry said that last Tuesday an initial team of counter-terrorism intelligence officers were deployed to the town of Garu to conduct what it called a “special operation”, without going into any more details.
The officers were then attacked by an irate group of youths armed with AK-47 rifles, machetes and other weapons, a ministry statement said.
The youths fired “multiple gun shots at a black Toyota Land Cruiser in which the officers were seated”.
As a result, soldiers went into Garu on Saturday to seize weapons used by the perpetrators of the attack.
The security forces have been accused by some MPs of using excessive force against the young people.
Images shared widely on social media showed some of the youth had sustained various injuries, including lacerations on their bodies and swollen faces.
The national security ministry has not acknowledged these reports and rather focussed on the attack on its personnel.
“Deliberate acts that seek to jeopardise the lives of personnel of state security and intelligence agencies will not be countenanced,” the ministry said.