Angola's petrol protest death toll rises to 22 as medics overwhelmed
On Monday and Tuesday sporadic gunfire was heard across the city."We have received many protesters with serious injuries, including multiple traumas. Sadly, some have died. We fear the death toll may be higher than the official figures suggest," one doctor said.Homem issued his statement after a cabinet meeting chaired by President João Lourenço on Wednesday."In the past two days, we have witnessed actions that amount to acts of vandalism and endanger public security in the provinces of Luanda, Huambo, Benguela and Huíla. However, we want to inform citizens that the overall public security situation in the country remains stable," the minister said.Many buildings had been looted or destroyed across the country, including supermarkets, shops and banks, he added.Ambulances, buses and private vehicles have also been damaged during the unrest."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 presidency said in a post on Facebook on Wednesday.Earlier President Lourenço had downplayed concerns over the decision to raise the price of diesel by more than 33%. It was introduced in early July as part of plans to remove fuel subsidies in the oil-rich nation.He told CNN Portugal the protesters were using petrol prices as a pretext to undermine the government.
The taxi unions - which called a three-day strike - have distanced themselves from the looting and destruction, stating they do not support such actions.On Tuesday night, a flight from Frankfurt to Luanda was cancelled. A British passenger told the BBC they were told it was due to the "political situation" in Angola.A Lufthansa spokesperson confirmed the cancellation, saying "safety and security for our passengers and crew has top priority".Several consulates and embassies have issued security warnings to foreign nationals. The US embassy advised "US citizens to remain vigilant and limit non-essential movement within Luanda".In the capital, long queues have formed at petrol stations as citizens try to refuel and stock up on essential goods.Police officers are deployed across the city and there are also many military and police vehicles on the streets.Opposition coalition the Patriotic United Front (FPU) said it stood in solidarity with "all layers of society currently experiencing the effects of the severe economic and social crisis Angola is facing".It added this "was a result of public policies disconnected from our country's reality, poor governance, corruption and the government's lack of human sensitivity".However, the FPU also said it "strongly condemned" the acts of destruction of public and private property carried out by protesters.The rise in petrol prices has pushed up fares for urban Angolans who rely on taxis and has also driven up the price of staple foods and other basics - as suppliers who transport those goods by road are passing on their additional costs to consumers.
More BBC stories on Angola:
Largest pink diamond in 300 years found in AngolaRediscovering the African roots of Brazil's martial art capoeiraEx-Trafigura boss convicted of bribery in landmark caseIsabel dos Santos hits out over UK's 'dirty money' sanctions
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Peaceful pink-wearing mothers' migrants protest turns to violence: Masked men hijack demonstration, trying to rush gates at asylum seekers hotel before police crack down
A peaceful protest by mothers wearing pink turned to violence this afternoon as masked thugs hijacked the demonstration outside a migrant hotel. The group of women and children gathered outside the four-star Britannia International hotel in Canary Wharf, London, today where they sat and chanted 'stop the boats'. The group held up England flags and wore pink clothing to raise awareness of how women and young people are being 'let down' by the migrant crisis. But the peaceful protest quickly turned to chaos as a group of up to 30 balaclava-clad men - all with their faces covered - swarmed the crowd. The thugs caused a huge bang as they set off smoke bombs and chanted ' Keir Starmer is a w*****'. After trying to charge the fence surrounding the hotel, the group of far-right activists ran back in the direction they came from - but were caught by police and several arrests were made. Protester Kim, 60, a resident of the area, said she was demonstrating as she worries for the safety of her family. 'I live in this area, I have kids and grandkids and it needs to be safe for them to live. We don't know them [asylum seekers], we don't know what they've done. My son can't get a house; he has been on the council list since he was 17.' Speaking about the disruption from masked protesters, Kim said: 'It is disgraceful. It completely upset the atmosphere. I don't want to see that and I don't want my kids to see. 'If that was one of my children I would embarrassed. It ruined the atmosphere. This was meant to be a peaceful protest for women and children.' A 17-year-old protester, who goes by the nickname of 'Young Bob', said he is concerned migrants will struggle to 'integrate' if they are housed in hotels in Canary Wharf. Young Bob, who was part of the peaceful mothers' protest, said: 'The counter demonstrators libel us as Nazis. 'But financial districts like these are not ideal for refugees who in the long term need integration. 'During the weekday there are not a lot of people around. 'How will they assimilate into Britishness in this environment? 'Business people who had bookings in the hotel are being turned away which will impact businesses round here.' He added: 'The biggest diversity we can have is the diversity of opinion. 'The protesters who disagree with us should relax in the expletives because it demonstrates a childishness.' On Saturday, people believed to be asylum seekers appeared to move into the four-star hotel in London under the cover of darkness. A coach full of suspected migrants was seen arriving at the Britannia International Hotel at around 1.40am on Saturday morning. Tower Hamlets Council confirmed the Government intends to use the hotel - which has around 500 rooms - for asylum seekers in a move that has angered anti-migrant protesters and guests whose bookings have been cancelled. Footage of the passengers getting off the coach showed they were all men, with the vast majority dressed in matching grey tracksuit tops and bottoms. They were helped by masked security guards, some of whom appeared to be wearing body cameras. Last week, workers were seen hauling beds and mattresses into the hotel in preparation for the arrival of 'hundreds' of asylum seekers. A barricade of metal fencing was placed around the hotel by the Metropolitan Police after anti-migrant demonstrators protested the plan for immigrants to be housed there. The Daily Mail has contacted the Met Police for comment.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Trans rights protesters daub graffiti including 'child killer' on Wes Streeting's constituency office
Trans rights protesters have claimed responsibility for vandalising Wes Streeting 's constituency office. Police have launched an investigation after the Health Secretary's HQ in Ilford North had its windows smashed and the words 'child killer' daubed on the front in graffiti. Trans Bash Back, a 'trans-led direct action project', claimed responsibility for the stunt in a post on the BlueSky social media platform on Friday. Sharing a photo of the front of Mr Streeting's office shortly after it had been damaged, they wrote: 'Don't want action? Don't kill kids.' The MP for Ilford North has addressed the vandalism but did not reference the accusations made by the activists. 'From day one as Ilford North's MP I've had an accessible and visible constituency office to serve my local community,' he wrote on X. 'Repeated criminal damage is unfair to my staff and an attack on democracy. I will not be commenting further while there is a live police investigation.' Trans Bash Back describes itself as a 'non-violent direct action group' which takes 'risky, and rarely legal' action. On social media, the group has said it 'to sit and watch as trans young people have their healthcare stripped from them. 'We refuse to allow Streeting to cover up their suicides. We refuse to endure the violence and humiliation. They will have to go through us'. One local business owner told The Telegraph that 'glass was broken and there's paint everywhere'. 'It's happened a few times – he's only just had the window replaced,' they added. Mr Streeting has previously been clear about his stance on the gender debate. In an interview with Talk Radio last year, he said: 'Men have penises, women have vaginas; here ends my biology lesson.' A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Police were called at 10.16 on Friday, Aug 1 to reports of criminal damage at an office in Woodford Avenue, IG4. 'Officers attended the scene, where they discovered that the address had been attacked with paint and the windows had been damaged. 'No one was injured.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
The horror of Gaza called and an army of rain-soaked Sydney Harbour Bridge marchers, young and old, came in full force
They came in full force in the pouring rain, armed with umbrellas and ponchos and waterproof prams. One man even carried a surfboard. This is Sydney, after all. At least 100,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday as part of a growing global call for a ceasefire in Gaza. It was double the estimated turnout, described by New South Wales police as the largest protest to descend on the city in memory. The massive column of rain-soaked marchers snaked their way across the entire 1.2km length of the bridge. Police temporarily ordered a halt over fears of a crowd crush because of the 'huge number of people taking part'. On Saturday, after the NSW supreme court had ruled in favour of the march proceeding, the Palestine Action Group had crystal ball gazed and said Sunday's bridge crossing would be an 'immense march for humanity'. The group has held a march every Sunday since 7 October 2023. But this was the first time it had taken its rally to Sydney's world-famous landmark, last closed for public assembly in 2023 for World Pride. To regulars of those weekly gatherings, Sunday felt like a tidal wave. Ali, marching with his wife and young daughter, described it as 'history in the making'. 'This is a big moment,' Ali said, as his eight-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, sat on his shoulders calling out 'Free Palestine', her cheeks painted in black, red, white and green. 'The people shut down the Harbour Bridge – the people did it.' But eventually, as scores of mobile phones buzzed on the bridge, the people were turned back. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Police orders were delivered to the masses via periodic text messages as helicopters circled overhead. The first read: 'The march needs to stop due to public safety.' Later, protesters were told to stop walking north and return back to the central business district. The marchers took it all in their stride: everyone was already drenched. As the crowd began to turn around (organisers estimated 300,000 walked on Sunday), a child stood on a pillar, leading a chant: 'In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.' The boy was among hundreds of infants and children in attendance. Many brandished homemade signs and banged empty pots and pans. The clanging of metal was meant to signify the ongoing starvation in Gaza. Maila, a year five student, said she would describe Sunday's crowd to her own children one day. 'I'm speaking out for the Palestinian kids like me, and for all of Palestine because of the war that's been going on right now,' she said, her hair adorned with a keffiyeh. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Despite the torrential rain and significant transport delays, spirits remained high. Volunteers in fluorescent hi-vis vests directed protesters away from puddles that had amassed on the concrete. Each time a train whistled past, marchers on the bridge, which links the north and south sides of the city, erupted into cheers and whistles, singing 'Free, free Palestine' to passengers going past. Tourists summiting the bridge's 1,332 steps waved down from its steel arched peak, witnesses to an unfolding moment in history that the state's premier, Chris Minns, had tried to stop. The NSW police acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna described the protest as the largest he'd seen in his time in the force in Sydney. 'Gee whiz, I wouldn't like to try and do this every Sunday,' he said. 'We're very lucky today that the crowd was well behaved.' At the front of the march,several high-profile Australians, including Julian Assange, held a sign that read 'March for Humanity Save Gaza'. Five NSW Labor MPs were alongside Assange, defying their premier. Two of Minns' ministers were there too: Penny Sharpe and Jihad Dib. The federal Labor MP Ed Husic – dumped from the Albanese cabinet in May – was in the crowd. Husic reiterated calls for the Albanese government to sanction Israel and recognise Palestinian statehood. 'People power has come out, I think, largely because they just cannot abide the treatment that has been seen of little kids,' he said. Abib, in the crowd, agreed. She marched across the bridge carrying a Palestinian flag alongside her daughter. She said it was 'humanity' that had brought marchers out in what was truly atrocious weather. 'I think a lot of people are starting to wake up,' she said. 'We're going on two years [of war]. People that were quiet in the beginning have started to speak.' Abib, whose husband is Palestinian, was struck by the diversity of people. Middle-aged women carried a banner crocheted by volunteers. Elderly couples completed the 4km journey on walking sticks. A group of British men held a sign reading 'Gay Jews 4 Gaza'. As the day began to wind down, Josh Lees, one the main organisers of a march that will be long remembered, told Guardian Australia: 'It's even bigger than my wildest dreams. 'It's a mass march for humanity to stop a genocide, our politicians have to now listen to the will of the people and sanction Israel.'
