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Zimbabwe faced a "total shutdown of the Internet" on Friday, a media group said after a violent crackdown on people protesting against a dramatic increase in the price of gasoline. Seriously injured people entered a hospital in the capital after alleged attacks by security forces.
"Our country is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history," the Zimbabwean Catholic Bishops' Conference said in a general statement deploring the "intolerant treatment of dissent" and its inability to end the economic collapse .
The MISA-Zimbabwe media group shared an SMS sent by Econet, the country's largest telecommunications company, calling the government's Internet order "beyond our reasonable control". The High Court will hear a protest of the closure on Monday, said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
A prominent pastor and activist who faces 20 years in prison for subversion has arrived in court, one of 600 people arrested this week. Evan Mawarire called it "heartbreaking" to see President Emmerson Mnangagwa's new government act like that of former leader Robert Mugabe.
Mawarire is accused of inciting civil disobedience online. "It's a pity what's going on," said the pastor.
International calls for restraint by Zimbabwean security forces are increasing, while Mnangagwa is preparing to plead for more investment at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He announced an increase in the price of fuel on the eve of his trip abroad, leaving the former president of the army, vice president and vice president Constantino Chiwenga, the functions of acting president.
Gasoline in the economically shattered country is now the most expensive in the world. Zimbabweans listened to a national call at home earlier this week in protest. Rights groups and others have accused security forces of targeting trade union activists and leaders, with the United States expressing alarm.
The UN human rights office on Friday called on Zimbabwe to end the crackdown, noting reports of intimidation of door-to-door searches by security forces.
The Zimbabwean Association of Physicians for Human Rights reported handling 68 cases of gunshot wounds and more than 100 other "badaults with sharp objects, kicked feet, batons," and so on. Hungry residents of the capital, Harare, who have been out foraging said they were gbaded by the police.
Soldiers were still checking the long fuel lines in Harare on Friday, and many concerned residents remained at home. Some said that they could no longer afford to pay for public transportation.
The wounded flocked to a private hospital in the capital. Some had broken legs. A nurse treated a man with a broken spine.
Albert Taurai told the Associated Press that he had ventured out in search of bread when plainclothes police dressed in masks beat him, accusing him of barricades on roads.
Keith Frymore, a 21-year-old security guard, had torn lips. He told AP that a group of uniformed soldiers had attacked him at work.
"I need $ 70 to get help here, I do not have that kind of money," he said.
The death toll this week has varied. Eight people were killed when police and the army fired on crowds, Amnesty International said. The Zimbabwean government said three people were killed, including a policeman stoned by an angry mob.
The protests constitute "terrorism," said information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, accusing the opposition. State Security Minister Owen Ncube thanked the security forces for their "firmness".
Among those arrested are several leaders of the ruling party community, ZANU-PF, as well as a soldier and a police officer.
Zimbabweans briefly rejoiced when Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe, who was forced to leave his post at the end of 2017, thinking that the new president would take into account that the country "was open to business". But the frustration has increased in the face of the lack of improvement in the collapsed economy, which does not even have its own currency.
The British Minister of African Affairs, Harriett Baldwin, summoned the Zimbabwean ambbadador to discuss "disturbing reports on the use of live ammunition, intimidation and excessive force" against protesters.
The European Union said in a statement on Thursday that "the security personnel used force disproportionately" and urged that the Internet service be reinstated.
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