Riots In Mozambique Enter Second Day

Riots In Mozambique Enter Second Day

Demonstrators in Maputo, Mozambique's capital, again blocked roads with burning tyres and looted shops as riots sparked by soaring prices of basic necessities entered a second day on Thursday.

Home Affairs Minister, Jose Pacheco said the government was trying to identify the source of text messages and e-mails, which have been circulating since Tuesday, urging residents to join the protests.

''We are working on identifying the people who organised the protests and to put the blame for the deaths and injuries as well as destruction of property,'' he said.

Arguments over use of live bullets

He said deaths, injuries and destruction of property were recorded in the confrontation between the demonstrators and police on Wednesday but denied the government ordered the use of live bullets.

''We registered deaths, injuries, loss of property through use of stones and shooting by police using rubber bullets. There is no order to use live bullets,'' Pacheco said in a broadcast interview.

Top police officials have however admitted that live ammunition was used in some places after police ran out of rubber bullets and citizens also reported that real bullets were fired.

While officials put the number of Wednesday's deaths at four - including two children, sources within the police and at hospitals said at least six were killed. A local TV station reported 10 deaths, about 140 arrests, 27 persons seriously injured and 32 shops, including banks, looted.

‘Illegal' protests

Pacheco said the riots must stop and urged citizens to air their grievances through dialogue with the government.

"The protests are illegal and they will not contribute to efforts by Mozambicans to fight poverty," he said, referring to routine meetings between President Armando Guebuza and residents countrywide.

Guebuza on Wednesday condemned the killings and destruction of public and private property and called on Mozambicans to restore order. He added that the government had made progress in implementing its plan to improve food production, infrastructure and provide running water and better schools.

Rising prices and recurring violence

Residents of Mozambique say they have been hit hard by rising costs of basic necessities - particularly a 30 per cent rise in the price of bread, caused by soaring wheat prices around the world.

The country has also suffered from the rising costs of goods imported from South Africa, whose rand currency has strongly appreciated in value.

The violence was the worst since 2008 when at least six people were killed in protests over high fuel prices and living costs. The government agreed at that time to cut the price of diesel fuel for minibus taxis.

The former Portuguese colony was torn by a 16 -year civil war from the late 1970s until a peace treaty was signed in 1992, ending fighting between the then-Marxist ruling party and South African-backed rebels.

Reuters/AyoKoya/Yinka