**At least 128 people were killed when Guinean troops opened fire on opposition protesters on Monday, rights groups and opposition figures claim.**Earlier police said 87 people had died, but local activists say hospital sources confirmed a much higher toll.
Human rights groups say they have had reports of soldiers bayoneting people and women being stripped and raped in the streets during Monday’s protest.
Junta head Captain Moussa Dadis Camara denied knowledge of sexual assaults.
About 50,000 people were protesting over rumours that Capt Camara intends to run for president in an election schedule for next January.
But soldiers moved in to quell the rally using tear gas and baton charges and firing live ammunition into the crowds.
An eyewitness told Human Rights Watch: "I saw the Red Berets [an elite military unit] catch some of the women who were trying to flee, rip off their clothes, and stick their hands in their private parts.
“Others beat the women, including on their genitals. It was pathetic - the women were crying out.”
Another eyewitness told the group: “I saw several women stripped and then put inside the military trucks and taken away. I don’t know what happened to them.”
There has been worldwide condemnation of the violence.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Guinean authorities to exercise maximum restraint, while the West African regional body Ecowas is reported to be pursuing sanctions against the military regime.