Tensions have mounted in the West African state before parliamentary elections that the opposition says are being rigged in advance by President Alpha Conde.

“There were youths on the hilltops throwing rocks. The security forces fired back with tear gas, which triggered general panic,” Souleymane Bah, a resident of the Conakry suburb of Bambeto, told Reuters.

Leading opposition figure Cellou Dalein Diallo had called his supporters onto the streets for a march to protest preparations for the elections, due to be held by the end of this year.

Diallo, who narrowly lost a presidential election last November to Conde, has said the government is seeking to tamper with voter rolls to win a majority. He has accused Conde of installing a close ally as head of the electoral commission.

Guinea’s military, which has been implicated in past massacres of opposition protesters, ordered its soldiers to remain off the streets on Tuesday, leaving security to the national guard and police.