Violent Protests Erupt in Angola Over Fuel Prices
(MENAFN) At least 22 individuals, including a police officer, lost their lives and close to 200 others were wounded amid intense protests in Angola this week, sparked by a rise in fuel costs, according to Manuel Homem, the country’s interior minister.
Addressing journalists during a council of ministers meeting on Wednesday, Homem revealed that 1,214 demonstrators had been detained for “acts of vandalism and looting.”
The minister noted that 66 shops and 25 vehicles were damaged nationwide, with banks, large supermarkets, and wholesale and retail warehouses targeted by looters.
The unrest began earlier this week after minibus taxi groups launched a three-day strike to oppose the government’s decision to hike diesel prices by 33%, a measure intended to reduce expensive subsidies and reinforce the nation’s public finances.
Protesters flooded the streets of Luanda, the capital, where intermittent gunfire was reportedly heard on Monday and Tuesday.
Clashes between protesters and law enforcement were also reported in the Benguela, Huambo, and Huila provinces.
“The acts carried out by the protesters, worsened by the presence of infiltrators with criminal intentions, show that the phenomenon has gone beyond a mere demand and now represents a threat to public order,” the Angolan presidency stated in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
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