Mozambique: General Strike Phase 4 - Police Have Killed 50

Buildings in Maputo, Mozambique (AI image).

Body count now 50

Police kill 7 in Nampula

Police shot dead seven demonstrators and wounded a dozen others in Namicopo neighbourhood, the most densely populated  in Nampula city. With these victims, the number killed by police is approaching 50 since the demonstrations began on 21 October.

The shooting occurred on the Rua da França when the demonstrators were marching from Namicopo towards the Waresta market. The group was intercepted by the police who immediately began to launch tear gas, which led to the dispersal of the demonstrators.

Two of the six who were shot dead and two of the injured were found by the police in a yard, where they had fled after the launching of the tear gas.

A plain clothes member of the police escaped death by stoning after he was identified in the midst of the demonstrators. He fled into a home. The demonstrators followed and beat him violently until he lost consciousness. Intervention of the family in the house where he had fled saved him from anything worse.

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Namicopo administrative post set on fire

Demonstrators vandalised the headquarters of the Namicopo urban administrative post, in Nampula city. They broke windows and set the inside of the building on fire, burning furniture and property inside.

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First day of phase 4 of general strike

Venancio Mondlane on Monday called for more economically disruptive actions in a live Facebook talk. Phase 4 of the general strike was to start today, and continue tomorrow and Friday - 13-15 November. Specific targets are provincial capitals, Maputo, Matola, ports and border crossings.

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Police tear-gas Quelimane mayor

When Quelimane mayor Manuel de Araújo arrived at the local airport he was greeted by a police who said his waiting supporters could not march with him into town. Eventually he was allowed to leave, but before he could get into his official car, the police started firing tear gas at the demonstrators, right where he was. An amateur video shows Manuel de Araujo and his wife in the middle of tear gas smoke with his security guards giving him water to wash his face. At the same time, his security guards pressed him to get into his protocol car.

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Demonstrations in Matola-Gare and Ressano Garcia

In Maputo province, the first demonstrations occurred atthe Ressano Garcia border post with South Africa. According to the independent television station STV, at about 06.00 the border was blocked by two stationary trucks. Demonstrators had taken their keys. The police seemed powerless to use force on thousands of young people who had opened the way for just three police vehicles to pass. Any attempt to shoot could result in a riot with unpredictable consequences.

In the early afternoon, demonstrators blocked the road at Matola-Gare which links Matola to Maputo city, via the neighbourhood of Machava. They burned tyres in the middle of the road.

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