Injuries reported after police fire tear gas and live ammunition as Venancio Mondlane lands in Maputo months after disputed election.Police have fired live ammunition and tear gas to prevent supporters of Mozambique’s main opposition leader Venancio Mondlane from reaching the airport to greet him following his return from self-imposed exile.
Live images from capital Maputo broadcast by Al Jazeera on Thursday showed police chasing down protesters, some of whom responded by throwing rocks, as they attempted to breach the main highway leading to the city’s Mavalane International Airport.
Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from the site of the clashes in Maputo, said some of Mondlane’s supporters were injured in the clashes.
“Police have been pushing back at protesters, firing tear gas. We also heard live ammunition being used,” she said.
“The protesters are trying to reach the airport to greet Mondlane, and they can’t. So they are increasingly agitated. There has been a back and forth between the police and protesters.”
The number of injuries could not be immediately determined.
Mondlane’s supporters tend to a man allegedly shot in the head by police at a checkpoint near the Maputo international airport on Thursday [Amilton Neves/AFP]
Mondlane, who was met by a large group of journalists after exiting the airport building, claims the October 9 election was rigged in favour of the candidate of the ruling Frelimo party, Daniel Chapo, who is due to be sworn in on January 15. Advertisement
Mondlane went into hiding more than two months ago fearing for his life after two …
