New clashes in Mozambique as two reported killed

Anti-government protesters and security forces clashed across Mozambique Wednesday with police reportedly killing two people and a military vehicle mowing down another at fresh demonstrations against October's disputed elections.

Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane has rejected the results of the October 9 vote and led a weeks-long standoff that has been brutally suppressed by police and left dozens dead, including children, according to rights groups.

Police opened fire and killed two protesters as hundreds of people gathered in the northern city of Nampula who had blocked traffic with barricades and burning tyres, a civil society activist told AFP.

The protesters had confronted the police sent to break up the blockade, which also stopped a train transporting coal from reaching the city's port, said Ivaldo Nazare from the Solidariedade Mocambique group.

Mondlane earlier called his supporters to block traffic as part of a new wave of protests against the election, which authorities say was won by the Frelimo party that has been in power since 1975.

Angry clashes also erupted in the capital Maputo after a military vehicle mowed down a woman who was standing behind a large banner of Mondlane set up in the middle of a busy road.

In a video of the incident that went viral on social media, the armoured vehicle is seen driving over the woman. Other clips show her being helped into another vehicle, apparently alive but in a serious condition.

Protesters stoned the vehicle and security forces, who responded with tear gas and bullets.

The armed forces confirmed in a statement later that one of its vehicles had struck a woman by accident. The vehicle was on a mission to clear roads blocked as part of the demonstrations, it said, and the victim was being treated in hospital.

The United States, Britain, Canada, Norway and Switzerland condemned "the escalation of violence against civilians" including Wednesday's brutal incident.

"We appeal to the Government of Mozambique... to investigate this incident and other reports of disproportionate use of force, ensuring accountability in accordance with the law," the group said in a statement.

- Right to demonstrate -

Elsewhere in Maputo, people marched to the central Fighter's Square, a hub for the city's poorer suburbs, shouting slogans such as "Frelimo out".

"I'm sorry for what happened with that woman," said Joaquim Fernando, one of around 100 protesters at the scene. "I don't agree with a brutal act like that. Every citizen has the right to demonstrate," the 26-year-old told AFP.

"We demand that Venancio Mondlane be our president because that's who we voted for," said another protestor, Olavio Jose, 24.

Rights groups have accused police of killing dozens of people in post-election protests after the authorities said Frelimo's Daniel Chapo got 71 percent, far ahead of Mondlane's 20 percent of votes.

The Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, a local civil society group, told AFP last week it knew of 65 people killed in police operations against the demonstrations.

Human Rights Watch said Monday that Mozambican security forces killed at least 10 children and injured dozens more.

President Filipe Nyusi, who is due to step down in January, said in a state of the nation address on November 19 that 19 people had died, including five police officers.

Protesters also blocked trucks at Mozambique's main border post with South Africa for most of Wednesday, according to the South African border authority.

The crossing, a key link for exporters using Maputo's Indian Ocean port, has been closed several times by protests over the past weeks.

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