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According to the chief opposition faction, around 700 people have supposedly died during three days of voting clashes in the East African nation.

Violence Begins on Polling Day

Protests erupted on Wednesday over what demonstrators described as the suppression of the opposition after the removal of key hopefuls from the presidential race.

Casualty Estimates Reported

A opposition spokesperson declared that numerous of people had been lost their lives since the demonstrations began.

"At present, the fatality count in the port city is nearly 350 and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from elsewhere around the nation, the total count is about 700," he stated.

The spokesperson mentioned that the number could be even larger because deaths might be occurring during a evening curfew that was imposed from election day.

Further Estimates

• A official source reportedly mentioned there had been accounts of exceeding 500 dead, "perhaps 700-800 in the whole country."
• Amnesty International said it had obtained information that no fewer than 100 individuals had been lost their lives.
• Rival groups asserted their figures had been compiled by a group of supporters visiting clinics and medical centers and "tallying the deceased."

Demands for Action

The opposition urged the authorities to "halt harming our activists" and called for a transitional government to pave the way for free and fair votes.

"Stop violence. Respect the choice of the people which is electoral justice," the spokesperson stated.

Government Reaction

The government responded by enforcing a restriction. Web outages were also reported, with global observers reporting it was across the nation.

The following day, the military leader criticized the unrest and referred to the activists "offenders". The official stated security forces would try to control the situation.

International Response

The UN human rights office stated it was "worried" by the fatalities and harm in the protests, adding it had received accounts that at least 10 people had been killed by authorities.

The office reported it had received trustworthy information of deaths in the port city, in Shinyanga and an eastern area, with security forces using real bullets and chemical irritants to break up protesters.

Expert Perspective

A civil rights attorney claimed it was "unreasonable" for authorities to use force, noting that the nation's president "should avoid using the police against the public."

"She should listen to the people. The sentiment of the nation is that there was an unfair process … We are unable to choose a single contender," the lawyer commented.