Mozambican authorities threatened to send soldiers to quell post-election protests that swept the country after the opposition rejected the results, AP News reported.
According to the results, the ruling Frelimo party extended its 49-year rule on 24 October. Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo was chosen as the overall winner and the opposition was planning what it said would be the largest protests across the capital Maputo on Thursday.
Human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday that at least 20 people had been killed and hundreds more injured and arrested since the protests began. The group also claimed that since last Friday, the government had repeatedly cut off internet access across the country and blocked media websites.
The country’s defence minister, Cristóvão Chume, threatened to use the armed forces to quell the ongoing post-election protests, saying they were an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government.
If the escalation of violence continues, the armed forces will replace the police on the ground to protect the interests of the state.
South Africa’s government on Wednesday closed its part of the Lebombo border it shared with Mozambique after receiving reports of vehicles being set on fire on the Mozambican side, according to reports. Residents of Ressano Garcia, a border town connecting Mozambique and South Africa, looted lorries and erected barricades on the roads late Tuesday to stop traffic.
Police cleared barricades in several Maputo neighbourhoods on Wednesday ahead of a major protest. Doctors and other health workers also demonstrated this week over the impact of the ongoing protests on civilians and health facilities.
Shortly after the elections, the European Union observer mission expressed its concerns. It stated that it was not allowed to observe the counting of votes in some areas and that there was an “unjustified alteration” of results in some polling stations.
