Tanzania’s main opposition Chadema party said on Friday that nearly 700 people had been killed in election-related violence since Wednesday’s vote.
The party was barred from running in the election and protesters were said to be again taking to the streets of Dar es Salaam, the financial capital of the East African country.
After the election, crowds took to the streets in cities across the country, clashing between police and protesters, leading to night curfews.
Internet access has been intermittent since Wednesday as the country awaits official results.
What did Tanzania’s opposition Chadema party say?
“As we speak, the death toll in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350 and for Mwanza it is over 200. Adding figures from other places across the country, the total figure is around 700,” Chadema spokesman John Kitoka told AFP news agency.
“The death toll could be much higher,” Kitaoka warned. He said the killings could take place during the night curfew.
The United Nations Human Rights Office expressed concern about deaths and injuries in the election-related unrest and said it had received credible information of at least 10 deaths.
“Credible reports we have received indicate that at least 10 people were killed in Dar es Salaam, Shinyanga and Morogoro as security forces used firearms and tear gas to disperse protesters,” Seif Magango, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.
The UN Human Rights Office called on security forces to stop using “unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal weapons, against protesters” and that “protesters must demonstrate peacefully.”
Tanzanian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo told Al-Jazeera on Friday that “no excessive force” had been used against protesters. He said the government had “no data” on the number of deaths.
Tanzania’s one-horse election race
President Samia Suluhu Hassan of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party entered the election virtually unopposed to secure a second term in office. The Chadema party boycotted the vote after its leader Tundu Lissu was jailed.
The other opposition contender, Luhaga Mapina of the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), was disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Sixteen opposition candidates representing small parties were on the ballot, but were not expected to pose a challenge to Suluhu Hassan.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico