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21 Feared Dead in Zanzibar Violence
At least 21 people were feared dead on the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and violence spread across Tanzania as police fought running battles with opposition protesters on Saturday.
Opposition officials and doctors said 20 protesters had been killed on Zanzibar's main islands of Unguja (Zanzibar Island) and Pemba as demonstrations across the archipelago to call for a re-run of disputed elections turned violent. Police said one security force member had been beheaded.
On the mainland, riot police fired tear gas canisters at stone-throwing protesters in the capital Dar es Salaam, and there were reports of violence in the Lake Victoria town of Mwanza.
Trouble seemed to be worst in Pemba, where opposition officials said at least 15 people had been killed, including the security force member. Witnesses said heavy gunfire could still be heard in the streets as dusk approached.
One doctor said he knew at least 11 of the 15 deaths occurred in just two of Pemba's districts.
"Here in Wete we have seven dead and there are four dead in Chake," he told Reuters. "I also have four injured, three in very critical condition. I am very worried.
It is difficult to reach the hospitals. As we speak, there are bullets firing and...when we take the injured to the hospital, police are not allowing us inside."
As darkness fell in Pemba, opposition officials said police were pulling people out of their houses and beating them up.
SIX KILLED IN UNGUJA
Opposition officials also said six protesters had been killed in Unguja.
Police did not immediately confirm the death toll. Earlier in the day they said five people, including their colleague, had been killed.
Trouble flared in Unguja's ancient Stone town even before the demonstrations began, witnesses said.
"The police tried to disperse some groups and people reacted," said Issa Yusuf, an eyewitness at the scene. "They threw stones and petrol bombs.
"Police fired teargas and then live bullets in the air as a warning and then aimed at the crowd. About five people fell down, but I have seen two dead."
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Dar es Salaam, where the situation was tense, witnesses said.
"There was lots of stone throwing, teargas, I saw at least 40 people arrested," an eyewitness in the capital said.
Police sources said over 180 people had been arrested on Zanzibar and scores of people are believed to have been injured.
Police have sealed off Zanzibar's main streets and blocked off the port, effectively trapping travelers and foreign tourists on the islands.
BRITONS TOLD TO KEEP LOW PROFILE
The British Foreign Office has warned its nationals on the islands, a popular tourist destination, to keep a low profile.
Shops closed and the streets emptied as people took shelter in their houses.
On Wednesday the government banned countrywide demonstrations by the Civic United Front (CUF), Tanzania's main opposition party, and police arrested its chairman, Ibrahim Lipumba.
CUF officials said they were determined to press ahead with the demonstrations, which had also been called to demand a new constitution defining the terms of the 1964 union between Zanzibar and then mainland Tanganyika.
Tanzania held multi-party elections last October for only the second time since independence from Britain in 1961.
While elections on the mainland which returned President Benjamin Mkapa to power were generally smooth, the Zanzibar poll was marred by violence and accusations of vote-rigging.
CUF rejected the elections, while a Commonwealth observer mission described the polls as a "shambles" and also called for them to be rerun.
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