Q+A-What happens next after Guinea crackdown?

CONAKRY, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Security forces in Guinea killed more than 150 people in a crackdown on opponents of military junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, a local rights group said on Tuesday.

The violence on Monday was the worst since Camara seized power in a 2008 coup and follows months of tension with opponents who demand he honour a longstanding pledge to ensure a transition to civilian rule.

WHAT LED UP TO THE CRACKDOWN?

Opponents believe Camara is preparing to run as a candidate in a presidential election due to have taken place this year but now postponed to January. While he himself has made no formal declaration, his supporters have in recent weeks said there should be no impediment to him standing. Two days after Camara held a rally for his supporters in the city of Labe, a coalition of rival parties sought on Monday to hold their own event at a stadium in the capital Conakry. It was banned but thousands of people took to the streets and broke into the stadium anyway -- prompting an immediate and massive crackdown by security forces.

DOES THIS AUGUR WIDER UNREST?

The violence used by the military on Monday could suggest a deliberate attempt by authorities to dissuade critics from any new challenges to Camara's rule. Aside from the use of live rounds, eyewitnesses reported gratuitous abuses by soldiers including sexual attacks on women, while media covering the events said they were assaulted by soldiers and their equipment destroyed. Several prominent opposition leaders including Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) were arrested on Monday and it is not clear when they can expect to be released. Guinea was quiet on Tuesday, but with the presidential election due on Jan. 31, the country is set for a volatile four months that could spill over into violence at any time.