By Watchmann

“Around 700” people have been killed in three days of election protests in Tanzania, the main opposition Chadema party told AFP on Friday.

Protesters were marching on the city centre in the economic capital Dar es Salaam on Friday, said spokesman John Kitoka.

“As we speak the figure for deaths in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350 and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from other places around the country, the overall figure is around 700,” he said.

A security source told AFP they were hearing similar numbers and that these had circulated within the Tanzanian army.

Amnesty International said it had received information that at least 100 people had been killed.

Kitoka said Chadema’s numbers were gathered by a network of party members going around hospitals and health clinics “counting dead bodies”.

Multiple hospitals and health clinics were too afraid to talk when contacted by AFP.

“Our message to the government is: Stop killing our protesters. Stop police brutality. Respect the will of the people which is electoral justice,” said Kitoka.

“There was no election at all. We need a transitional government to pave the way for free and fair elections,” he added.