At least 21 people have died as a result of the increase in violence in Mozambique during the new protests that have occurred in the last hours, after the Constitutional Court confirmed this Monday the triumph of Daniel Chapo, candidate of the ruling partyin the October presidential elections.
The Minister of the Interior, Pascoal Ronda, reported this Tuesday the death of at least 21 people, including two police officers, during the looting and attacks on police stations that have occurred throughout the country, as well as due to clashes between protesters and agents.
“No one can call, or consider, these criminal acts as peaceful demonstrations,” said Ronda, who has reported another twenty injuries, including police and civilians, as well as hundreds of violent incidents throughout the countryso it has been decided to reinforce security on the streets.
Ronda has indicated that among the objectives of these organized groups there are not only police posts and police stations, but also penitentiary centers and critical infrastructure facilities.
Thus, it has not ruled out that these “selective attacks” are led by “terrorist groups” related to jihadists operating in Cabo Delgado. “Faced with this situation, the security forces are going to intervene since we cannot witness the growth of this urban terrorism movement forever,” he said.
A hundred victims
Since the riots began two months ago, more than 120 people have diedmost from bullet impacts. Meanwhile, the country’s main cities continue to wake up to destruction, looting, blocked roads and vandalized government facilities.
Chapo, candidate of the historic Mozambique Liberation Front party (Frelimo), in power for half a centurywon the last presidential elections with 65% of the votes, as the Constitutional Court stated this Monday.
However, Venantius Mondlanewho has emerged as the main figure of the oppositioninsists that there was electoral fraud and has announced that he will continue urging his followers to continue with the protests. Meanwhile, he remains out of the country, his whereabouts unknown since the end of October.
Escape of more than a thousand prisoners
Added to the previous figures are the more than 33 people who lost their lives this Wednesday during clashes with security forces after the escape of 1,534 prisoners from a prison on the outskirts of the capital of Mozambique, Maputo, caused by post-election protests.
The first information indicates that the leak occurred in the prison facility in the province of Maputo, in Matolaa maximum security prison, according to the general commander of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, Bernardino Rafael, at a press conference in the capital.
“We recorded an escape of inmates from the central prison of the city of Matola, where 2,500 prisoners were interned. The circumstances of the escape were that around 1:00 p.m. (11:00 GMT) a group of subversive protesters approached the establishment, making noise and demanding to be able to remove the prisoners who are serving their sentences there.
