12 February 2008
Maputo — Although the authorities insist that only one person died in Monday's riot in the town of Chokwe, in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza, eye-witnesses cited in Tuesday's issue of the independent newssheet "Mediafax" put the number of deaths at between three and six.
The Chokwe District Administrator, Agostinho Faquir, told the paper that the man who died "was in the middle of the demonstrators, waving a pistol. He began to open fire on the police, and the police had to react. It was then that the police shot and killed this person. But it's not true that three people died".
This time it seems certain that the police were using live ammunition rather than rubber bullets. Seven people were admitted to the local hospital, at least two of whom were suffering from gunshot wounds.
The rioters were protesting against the high cost of living, particularly rises in the price of food and of fuel. The disturbances began at about 7.30 on Monday morning, and at about 11.00 degenerated into a full scale battle between the police, and rioters. The police only gained the upper hand once reinforcements had arrived from the provincial capital, Xai-Xai.
At least three shops and a warehouse were looted. An eye-witness told "Mediafax" that one shop only avoided the same fate because its owner was armed, and managed to close his establishment in time.
Reports from Chokwe on Tuesday morning suggest that life there has now returned to normal. However, disturbances on Tuesday spread to the Gaza town of Chibuto, where a group of youths looted stalls in the town's central market.
A Chibuto municipal official, interviewed by the private television station STV, described these rioters as "a group of opportunists", who were merely interested in stealing goods from market stalls.
The disturbances started at about 10.00, but the police brought the situation under control within about half an hour, the official said.
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