According to the main opposition party, around 700 people have been killed in three days of election protests in Tanzania since Wednesday, with protesters still on the streets in the midst of an internet blackout.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to cement her position in the virtually uncontested polls, with the main challengers either in jail or barred from standing.
Wednesday's election descended into chaos as huge crowds took to the streets of Dar es Salaam and other cities, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.
With foreign journalists largely unable to cover the election and a communications blackout entering its third day, information from the ground has been scarce.
But the main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from the election, said protesters were marching on the city centre in Dar es Salaam on Friday, met by a heavy police and army presence.
"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," Chadema spokesman John Kitoka told AFP.
"The death toll could be much higher," he added, saying killings could be happening during the nighttime curfew.
A security source told AFP they were hearing reports of more than 500 dead, "maybe 700-800 in the whole country."
Multiple hospitals and health clinics were too afraid to talk directly to AFP.
Local news sites had not been updated since Wednesday, and Hassan has not commented on the unrest.
The only official statement came from army chief Jacob Mkunda late Thursday who called the protesters "criminals".
Zanzibar 'robbed'
In Zanzibar, a tourist hotspot, Hassan's ruling party had already been declared winner of the local vote on Thursday.
The opposition party, ACT-Wazalendo, rejected the result, saying: "They have robbed the people of Zanzibar of their voice... The only solution to deliver justice is through a fresh election."
The ruling party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi: CCM) was due to give a press conference later in the day.
Crackdown
Hassan has faced opposition from parts of the army and allies of her predecessor, John Magufuli, since she took over upon his death in 2021, analysts say.
They said she wanted an emphatic victory to cement her position, and the authorities banned the main opposition party, Chadema, and put its leader on trial for treason.
ACT-Wazalendo was allowed to contest the local election in Zanzibar, but its candidate was barred from competing against Hassan on the mainland.
