Protests against rising food prices turned deadly in the capital, Maputo, on Wednesday when the police opened fire on demonstrators. The police and hospital officials said the toll was at least 6, but President Armando Guebuza, speaking on state television and radio, said that 4 had died and 167 had been arrested. Sporadic violence continued into the night; earlier, youths had rampaged through Maputo, throwing stones and looting shops in the worst violence in the country since 2008.
Mr. Guebuza said that his government would try to meet demands to bring down prices, but that Mozambique produced only 30 percent of the wheat it needed and imported the rest. Mozambicans have seen the price of a loaf of bread rise by 25 percent in the past year. Fuel and water costs have also risen.
Source: New York Times
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