MBABANE: Gunmen in Mozambique have killed a leading opposition politician’s lawyer and another opposition official, according to their party, before protests against a disputed election result, Aljazeera reported this week.
“The attackers chased the car of Podemos party’s lawyer Elvino Dias and party representative Paulo Guambe and fatally shot them late on Friday night in the capital Maputo, the party said on Saturday.Videos on social media showed a BMW SUV in the middle of the road with numerous bullet holes in the bodywork. Some of the videos showed what appeared to be the bodies of two men, one with blood on his chest, in the front seats. The other body was slumped over.
The killings came with tensions already high in the southern African country as it waits for the results of an October 9 election that has drawn more allegations of vote-rigging and clamping down on dissent against the 49-year rule of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) party”, reads the Aljazeera report.
Podemos has rejected provisional results showing a win for Frelimo and called for a nationwide strike on Monday. Although Venancio Mondlane ran for president as an independent, he was supported by Podemos.
The killings are “further clear evidence of the lack of justice that we are all subjected to”, Podemos said.
Soldiers from the Rwandan security forces are seen near the Afungi natural gas site, Mozambique September 22, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo