‘Hundreds dead’ in Tanzania post-election violence, says opposition

AFP | Nairobi

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Around 700 people have been killed in three days of election protests in Tanzania, the main opposition party said yesterday, with protesters still on the streets in the midst of an internet blackout.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to cement her position and silence critics in her party with an emphatic win in Wednesday’s election, in which her main challengers were either jailed or barred from standing.

But the vote descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets of Dar es Salaam and other cities, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.

With foreign journalists largely banned from covering the election and a communications blackout entering its third day, information from the ground has been scarce.

The main opposition party, Chadema, said clashes continued between protesters and security forces in the commercial hub yesterday.

“As we speak the figure for deaths in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350 and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from other places around the country, the overall figure is around 700,” Chadema spokesman John Kitoka said.