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LUANDA: Unrest in Angola following protests against a fuel price hike has killed 22 people since Monday, the interior minister said, as calm returned to the capital.
Sporadic gunfire was heard across Luanda and several other cities on Monday and Tuesday as people looted shops and clashed with police when violence erupted during a taxi strike.
The strike was the latest in a series of protests after the price of fuel was hiked from 300 to 400 kwanzas ($0.33 to $0.43) a liter on July 1, squeezing living costs for the millions of poor in one of Africa’s top oil producers.
“We regret 22 deaths, including one police officer,” Interior Minister Manuel Homem told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday.
Nearly 200 people were injured in the violence, he said, and more than 1,200 people had been arrested.
Shops and businesses remained closed in Luanda on Wednesday as security forces patrolled the city.
The streets were largely empty as people stayed home, although there were some queues outside petrol stations and shops, AFP reporters said.
Police in the southern city of Lubango confirmed separately that a police officer had shot and killed a 16-year-old on Tuesday.
The teenager was part of a group attempting to invade the headquarters of the ruling MPLA party, a statement said.
Anger against the price hike was also the focus of a demonstration of around 2,000 people in Luanda on Saturday, with protesters also alleging government corruption.
There had been similar protests the two previous weekends.
Four people were killed on the first day of the unrest on Monday, according to police.
Local media reported other victims on Tuesday.
TV Nzinga showed women weeping over a body in a street in Luanda’s central Cazenga area as people ran out of a supermarket carrying food and goods. The report did not say how the person was killed.
In the same area, a young man was killed near a supermarket, apparently by a stray bullet, an AFP reporter said.
Protests and unrest were also reported outside the capital, including in the city of Huambo, around 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of Luanda, police said.
Images on social media also showed protests in the coastal city of Benguela, south of the capital.
The Portuguese-speaking country of more than 36 million has a high inflation rate that neared 20 percent in June, while the unemployment rate hit almost 30 percent, according to the national statistics authority.

LONDON: Australia’s first Muslim MP and government minister has said his country should recognize a Palestinian state, following in the footsteps of the UK as part of a tide of “moral momentum.”

The appeal by Labor’s Ed Husic, who was elected in 2010, came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is to hold further talks with his British counterpart Keir Starmer in the coming days.

Starmer pledged this week to recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel fails to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, among other conditions.

If Australia does the same, it would deprive Hamas of its power in Gaza and expedite the peace process, Husic said.

“Hamas is built largely on grievance. That grievance gets removed with the establishment of a state of Palestine, nurtured with the cooperation and support of the international community, progressed through the development of democratic institutions,” he added.

The former minister said his Labor colleagues feel increasingly aggrieved over the situation in Gaza, calling on them to urge Australian recognition of a Palestinian state.

“There is a deep feeling within the caucus, about how right it is to recognize Palestine, and I would much rather that colleagues speak for themselves,” he added.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed an international statement calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Albanese, however, declined to immediately follow Starmer’s decision despite Australia’s government previously signaling that it would move in unison with international partners on measures to address the crisis in Gaza.

“What I’ve said is that it’s not the timeline, that’s not what we’re looking at. What we’re looking at is the circumstances where recognition will advance the objective of the creation of two states,” Albanese said at Parliament House after speaking with Starmer this week.

“I’ve said for a long time, my entire political life, I’ve said I support two states … That’s my objective — not making a statement, not giving a political point, but achieving peace.”