Senegal announced on Tuesday that it has decided to close all of its consulates abroad following attacks on its diplomatic and consular missions in a number of cities amid political tensions at home.

The move followed attacks on several of the country’s diplomatic missions, including in Bordeaux, Milan, Paris and New York, according to the ministry.

“This precautionary measure was taken following a series of aggressions that caused serious damage,” Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall said in a statement.

The closures come on the back of political tensions in Senegal following the sentencing last week of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to a two-year jail term which led to deadly protests in the capital Dakar and other towns.

At least 16 people were killed and more than 350 injured in three days of clashes between protesters and security forces on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The protests spread to Senegalese diplomatic missions abroad. The general consulate in Milan was particularly vandalized, with passport making machines and identity cards destroyed, according to the ministry.

Services will resume “as soon as material and security conditions allow,” said Sall.

Media reports in Italy said that protestors attacked Senegal’s Milan consulate on Monday, where about 40 Sonko supporters carrying flags and anti-government symbols ransacked the premises, attacked the consul general and set a fire before police intervened.

Sonko was charged with rape and making death threats against Adji Sarr, an employee of a beauty salon in Dakar, in 2021.

On Thursday, the court acquitted Sonko of the rape charges but sentenced him to two years for corrupting the youth, disqualifying him from running in presidential elections due next year.

Sonko finished third in the 2019 election against President Macky Sall, but during the trial, he said the case against him is politically motivated to prevent him from running in 2024.

The Communications Ministry meanwhile said Tuesday that it restored access to mobile internet across the country, which had been cut due to deadly demonstrations. (Anadolu Agency)

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