Reporter’s Notebook: Protests in Senegal ‘took me by surprise’

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reflects on the demonstrations that have rocked the West African nation following the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

Dakar, Senegal – It took me by surprise. The series of loud detonations from rounds of tear gas, smoke billowing with armoured personal carriers moving swiftly through my neighbourhood. Security forces wore helmets with beads of sweat dripping from their foreheads as a thick-grey smoke rose above.