At least 56 killed in clashes over Mozambique’s disputed election ruling

MAPUTO, Mozambique — At least 56 people have been killed in Mozambique since Monday, a nongovernmental organization said Wednesday as police officers and protesters clashed in the latest wave of unrest over a presidential election that demonstrators claim was rigged by the governing party.

At Maputo Central Prison, which housed 2,500 inmates, more than 1,530 prisoners escaped, a police commander, Bernardino Rafael, said at a news conference Wednesday. Thirty-three prisoners were killed and 15 others wounded in a confrontation with guards trying to prevent detainees from fleeing, he said.

“Within the next few hours,” Rafael said, “150 of the escapees were recaptured by the authorities.”

Tensions escalated this week after the nation’s top court Monday upheld the result of the election in favor of Daniel Chapo, the candidate for Frelimo, which has governed Mozambique since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

The protests erupted after the country’s election in October, and human rights groups say that Mozambique’s security forces have responded with excessive force, including by firing live rounds and rubber bullets into crowds.

The total death toll since Monday was unclear, but more than 150 people have died in the unrest since the election was held.

The top opposition candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, has asserted that he won the election. He has called for a national shutdown and for Mozambicans to take to the streets in protest.

Mondlane said in a livestream Tuesday that he was open to dialogue, “but only with international mediation.”

“I will do what the people tell me to do,” he said. “I am with the people.”

Protesters responded to the ruling by burning tires and blocking roads with trash and streetlights.

Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda, speaking at a news conference Tuesday, said hundreds of buildings had been looted or vandalized, including police stations, schools, hospitals, courts and homes.

The deaths have occurred across seven provinces, according to Plataforma Decide, a civil society monitoring group that has been tracking incidents related to the election.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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