LOME, July 5, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Two opposition parties and several civil society groups in Togo called on the authorities Friday to postpone municipal elections scheduled for July 17, after deadly anti-government protests.

The west African country, ruled for nearly six decades by Faure Gnassingbe and his late father, has had rare protests erupt in recent weeks over electricity price hikes, arrests of government critics and a constitutional reform consolidating Gnassingbe's grip on power.

At least seven people have been killed in the protests, dozens wounded and more than 60 arrested, according to civil society groups.

The opposition National Alliance for Change (ANC), Democratic Forces for the Republic (FDR) and several civil society groups, said they "condemn in the strongest terms" the "brutal repression" of protests and called for the elections to be postponed indefinitely.

Campaigning for the elections opened Tuesday.

Rights group Amnesty International called Thursday for an independent investigation into allegations Togo's security forces killed, tortured and kidnapped people in their crackdown on the protests.

The opposition parties and civil society groups echoed that call, condemning the "barbarity" of security forces and pro-government militias in a statement.