JOHANNESBURG: Gunmen killed a Mozambique opposition lawyer and a party official after firing multiple rounds at a car in which they were traveling on Saturday, ratcheting up tensions ahead of protests against a disputed election result, rights groups said.
Mozambique’s new opposition Podemos party and its presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane have rejected provisional results showing a likely win for Frelimo, the party that has ruled Mozambique for half a century.
They have called for a nationwide strike on Monday.
Mozambican civil society election observer group More Integrity said the attack happened in the Bairro Da Coop neighborhood of the capital Maputo, killing Podemos lawyer Elvino Dias and party representative Paulo Guambe.
“They were brutally assassinated (in a) cold-blooded murder,” Adriano Nuvunga, director of Mozambique’s Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), told Reuters by telephone.
“The indications that around 10 to 15 bullets were shot, and they died instantly.”
Human Rights Watch also issued a statement confirming the attack.
According to the latest election tally, Frelimo is leading in all 11 provinces and its candidate Daniel Chapo is widely expected to win the Oct. 9 election, but Western observers have cast doubt on the credibility of the poll.
They noted reports of vote buying, intimidation, inflated voter rolls in Frelimo strongholds and a lack of transparency in collation — problems that have marred most polls since Frelimo first introduced democracy in 1994 after two decades in power.
Full results are expected on Oct. 24, but many fear Monday’s protest could turn bloody. Mozambique’s security forces have opened fire on political protesters in the past, including after last year’s local elections, according to human rights groups.
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Gunmen kill two Mozambique opposition figures ahead of election protests
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Gunmen kill two Mozambique opposition figures ahead of election protests
Philippines says fishermen injured in China Coast Guard encounter
MANILA: Three Filipino fishermen were injured when China Coast Guard vessels sprayed their boats with water cannons and cut their anchor lines in a disputed area of the South China Sea, Philippine authorities said Saturday.
Beijing said Friday it had taken “necessary control measures,” involved about 20 Philippine fishing boats near the flashpoint Sabina Shoal, a fish-rich area about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the island of Palawan.
It was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in the contested waterway, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
The fishermen were “were targeted with water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers,” a Philippine coast guard spokesman said in a statement Saturday.
“Three fishermen sustained physical injuries, including bruises and open wounds. Two (Filipino fishing boats) also suffered significant damage from high-pressure water cannon blasts,” Commodore Jay Tarriela said.
Small Chinese rigid hull inflatable vessels had also “deliberately cut the anchor lines of several (boats),” he added.
In a statement released Saturday, the China Coast Guard said it had taken “necessary control measures against the Philippine vessels ... including issuing warnings via loudspeaker and conducting external maneuvering to drive them away.”
Video released by the Philippine side showed water cannon blasts crashing over the small fishing boats. Tarriela told AFP the high-powered streams had “destroyed wooden structures” on the vessels.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
In October, the Philippines accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming one of its government vessels in the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has sought to assert its sovereignty claims for years. Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.
A month earlier, one person was injured when a water cannon attack by a China Coast Guard vessel shattered a window on the bridge of another fisheries bureau vessel near the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal.
Beijing said Friday it had taken “necessary control measures,” involved about 20 Philippine fishing boats near the flashpoint Sabina Shoal, a fish-rich area about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the island of Palawan.
It was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in the contested waterway, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
The fishermen were “were targeted with water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers,” a Philippine coast guard spokesman said in a statement Saturday.
“Three fishermen sustained physical injuries, including bruises and open wounds. Two (Filipino fishing boats) also suffered significant damage from high-pressure water cannon blasts,” Commodore Jay Tarriela said.
Small Chinese rigid hull inflatable vessels had also “deliberately cut the anchor lines of several (boats),” he added.
In a statement released Saturday, the China Coast Guard said it had taken “necessary control measures against the Philippine vessels ... including issuing warnings via loudspeaker and conducting external maneuvering to drive them away.”
Video released by the Philippine side showed water cannon blasts crashing over the small fishing boats. Tarriela told AFP the high-powered streams had “destroyed wooden structures” on the vessels.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
In October, the Philippines accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming one of its government vessels in the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has sought to assert its sovereignty claims for years. Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.
A month earlier, one person was injured when a water cannon attack by a China Coast Guard vessel shattered a window on the bridge of another fisheries bureau vessel near the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal.
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