Two people were killed and at least 15 were wounded in Guinea yesterday in clashes between supporters of President Alpha Conde and his main rival before tomorrow’s election, witnesses and a senior police source said.

Shots were fired, security forces fired teargas and wielded batons outside rival Cellou Dalein Diallo’s house in the capital, while activists armed with stones and clubs roamed the streets, reducing traffic to a minimum, they said.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the clashes, but President Conde on Thursday rejected a demand by opposition candidates to postpone the vote to allow time to rectify what they said were irregularities in the process.

“They attacked us this morning, waking us up with volleys of stones. The attackers were numerous,” said one of Mr Diallo’s bodyguards, who declined to give his name. There was no immediate comment from the security forces.

The West African country has a history of election violence, and Mr Conde earlier cancelled his last campaign rally due to security concerns, after clashes on Thursday that left at least one person dead and 20 injured.

Mr Conde is favourite to win a second term after his election in 2010 ended two years of brutal military rule. Since then, Guinea has been battered by the Ebola epidemic and a slump in global commodities prices that has hit its exports of bauxite.