Violence has broken out in the Gabonese capital Libreville after President Ali Bongo was declared winner of Saturday's presidential election.

Opposition candidate Jean Ping said two people had been killed and many injured after security forces launched an attack on his party's headquarters, the (BBC) reported. The government said it was targeting "armed criminals" who had earlier set the parliament on fire. 

Ping disputes the result, which gave President Bongo a narrow victory, according to the BBC."They attacked around 01:00 (00:00 GMT). It is the republican guard. They were bombarding with helicopters and then they attacked on the ground," Ping - who was not at the party headquarters himself - said earlier.  He called for international assistance to protect the population. 

The election result was announced on Wednesday afternoon and gave Bongo a second seven-year term with 49.8% of the vote to Ping's 48.2 %, a margin of 5,594 votes. Ping said the election was fraudulent and "everybody knows" he won.

Source : XINHUA