Regional Bloc Urges Mozambique Restraint With 278 Dead in Unrest

A southern African bloc called for an immediate end to hostilities in Mozambique, where post-election protests have left dozens of people dead and caused extensive damage to private and government property.

The violence has shaken the gas-rich nation after the authorities announced the ruling party that’s been in power for almost five decades won the Oct. 9 vote by a landslide. Tensions escalated when the top electoral court confirmed the victory, though by a smaller margin, an outcome that opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane rejected as fraudulent.

Mondlane has orchestrated waves of demonstrations via live stream from self-imposed exile, and the worst political unrest since the end of Mozambique’s 16-year civil war in 1992 has hit the economy hard, affecting energy supplies to neighboring countries and cutting off a key export route for South Africa’s chrome mines. Mondlane plans to announce the next phase of protests on Thursday.

The Southern African Development Community is ready to assist in facilitating a resolution to the dispute and urged “all parties to embrace peaceful and constructive dialogue,” the 16-member bloc said in a statement on Tuesday. By Dec. 29, at least 278 people had died, most of them from police gunfire, according to Decide Platform, a monitoring group in Mozambique.

“We are deeply concerned by the continued loss of lives, injuries, destruction of private property and public infrastructure,” said Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who currently heads SADC’s organ on politics, defense and security cooperation. “The SADC calls upon all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from actions that escalate violence and unrest.”