Image copyright Reuters Image caption Soldiers detained people near the opposition headquarters

Gabon's opposition leader Jean Ping has told the BBC a presidential guard helicopter bombed his headquarters and killed two people.

A government spokesman said the operation was to root out "criminals" who had set fire to parliament.

Protestors took to the streets on Wednesday claiming fraud after it was announced that President Ali Bongo had been narrowly re-elected.

Some 1,000 people have been arrested, officials say.

In a national address, Mr Bongo said "democracy does not sit well with an attack on parliament".

Protests and gunfire continued in the capital Libreville on Thursday.

US state department spokesman John Kirby said events in Gabon were being closely monitored by the international community and "appropriate actions" were being considered.

"We deplore the escalation of violence," he said, adding that the US urged "all parties to come together peacefully in this critical time".

The official election result, announced on Wednesday afternoon, gave Mr Bongo a second seven-year term with 49.8% of the vote to Mr Ping's 48.2% - a margin of 5,594 votes.

But Mr Ping said the election was fraudulent and "everybody knows" he won.

Internet cut

Mr Ping won in six out of nine provinces but disputes the result in Mr Bongo's home province of Haut-Ogooue, where turnout was 99.93% and 95% of votes were for the president.

Turnout in the other provinces was between 45% and 71%, according to Gabon's interior ministry.

EU election monitor spokesperson Sarah Crozier told BBC Newsday "it's not a very common result, that's for sure".

Gabon election: Bongo v Ping

Image copyright Getty Images

Mr Bongo took office in 2009 after an election marred by violence

He succeeding his father Omar Bongo who had come to power in 1967 and was Africa's longest serving leader

Veteran diplomat Mr Ping had served as chair of the African Union

He had been a close ally of Omar Bongo and had been his foreign minister

He had two children with Omar Bongo's daughter, Pascaline

Mr Ping has called for voting figures from each polling station to be made public.

The US and EU have also called for the results to be published, while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged calm.

Former colonial power France, which retains strong economic and political ties to the country, also said it was "deeply concerned".

The BBC's Charles Stephane Mavoungou reports from Libreville that on Thursday people in the capital have been unable to access the internet, including social media.

The Boulevard Triomphal, home to Gabon's parliament, was covered in burnt-out cars and lined with torched buildings on Thursday, reports the AFP news agency.

It said police used tear gas to prevent crowds from gathering again and arrested people as they emerged from remains of the parliament.

Police chief Jean-Thierry Oye Zue said six officers had been killed in the protests but declined to give an overall casualty figure, AFP reports.

Oil-rich Gabon has one of the highest per-capita incomes in Africa, but few of its 1.6 million people feel the benefit.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Smoke and flames poured from the national assembly building on Wednesday

Image copyright AFP Image caption Police patrolled the area around the parliament on Thursday

Image copyright AFP Image caption They prevented large crowds from gathering and removed some barricades</s>Gabon's top opposition candidate Jean Ping declared Friday that he was the rightful winner of the presidential election, accusing the country's incumbent leader of using fraud to cling to power.

The move sets the stage for a protracted dispute over the election, as President Ali Bongo Ondimba also has declared victory.

On Friday, Ping called for the release of results from individual polling stations. Results released by election officials showed Bongo won by a mere 1.57 percentage points.

"The whole world knows today who is the president of the Republic of Gabon. It's me, Jean Ping," he told reporters.

"Each time the Gabonese people have chosen their president, the dark forces are always gathered to place he who was not chosen as head of state. Together we have decided that this time things however will be different."

Bongo's father had ruled the oil-rich country since the 1960s until his death in 2009 when his son then came to power.

Ping's supporters already have taken to the streets in protest, and at least three people have been killed in the unrest. On Friday, Ping said citizens had "strongly demonstrated their legitimate anger."

The U.S. Embassy in Libreville said in a statement on its website Tuesday that Gabon's voters were not "well served by the many systemic flaws and irregularities that we witnessed," including the late opening of polling stations and "last minute changes to voting procedures." The embassy said the government should publish results by polling station.

European Union observers have criticized a "lack of transparency" on the part of institutions organizing the vote.</s>Gabon's presidential guard attacked the opposition party headquarters overnight, killing one person and injuring at least 20, opposition representatives said Thursday following protests against the re-election of this central African country's president.

President Ali Bongo Ondimba beat opposition candidate Jean Ping by a slim margin, setting the stage for unrest.

Bongo won with 49.8 percent of the vote, while Ping had 48.2 percent. The constitutional court must finalize provisional results, which came a day later than expected

Around 1 a.m. Thursday, soldiers in green berets identifying them as the presidential guard shot live rounds during an attack on Ping's opposition headquarters, injuring at least 20 people, according to Paul Marie Gondjout, an opposition electoral representative who was there.

Ping's campaign director, Rene Ndemezo'o Obiang, said one person was killed. Ping was not in the building.

A resident said government forces also attacked the RTN opposition radio and television station.

Before the attack on the opposition headquarters, police fired tear gas at hundreds of opposition demonstrators in the capital, Libreville, who responded by setting fire to cars and debris in front of the National Assembly. Flames and smoke rose in the night sky.

Witnesses said demonstrators in several other districts vandalized a mall, looted a bank and burned buildings, including one belonging to the vice prime minister.

Looting and clashes also followed Bongo's previous election win in 2009, when he came to power after the death of his father, longtime ruler Omar Bongo.

European Union observers criticized what they called a "lack of transparency," and the EU called for electoral officials to publish results from all polling stations.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged political leaders and their supporters "to refrain from further acts that could undermine the peace and stability of the country." He also called on security forces to exercise restraint.
Military helicopters bomb the headquarters of Union of Forces for Change, according to opposition leader Jean Ping, killing at least two people. Internet is also cut in the capital, Libreville.