Attacks starting in mid-July claimed at least 100 lives as Konianke people battled Guerzes with machetes.

By Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera, 8 August, 2013

Conakry, Guinea - Through the night sky thick smoke permeated the air, but witnesses saw no flames as they drove through Koule, a small town on the outskirts of N'Zerekore which is around 600km from Guinea's capital, Conakry. The region was the site of an attack on July 14, members of the Guerze community lynched a young Konianke man accused of stealing gas from a petrol station.

The Konianke people are primarily Muslims, and the Guerzes are people who come from the surrounding forests, and are generally Christian or animists. The young man's boss, a car mechanic, heard about the killing, and decided to take matters into his own hands, gathering members of the Konianke community and attacking the petrol station. 

There has been tension between the two communities before, and lynching's and setting people on fire for alleged crimes, is common in this part of Guinea. However, in this case, the scale of the violence after the lynching took everyone by surprise [....]