Around 700 people have been killed in election violence in Tanzania, the main opposition party in the East African country, still under a pall of repression, claimed on Friday, figures rejected by the government which denies any "excessive use of force".

The country of 68 million people descended into violence on Wednesday, the day of presidential and legislative elections which took place without opposition, as the two main opponents of the head of state Samia Suluhu Hassan were either imprisoned or disqualified.

An AFP journalist heard heavy gunfire Wednesday in Dar es Salaam, the country's economic capital and largest city, as hundreds of people protested, notably setting fire to a police station. The protests subsequently spread throughout the country.

"As we speak, the number of deaths in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350 and there are more than 200 in Mwanza (north). If we add the figures from other places in the country, we arrive at a total of around 700 deaths," the spokesman for the opposition Chadema party, John Kitoka, told AFP.

"There has been no excessive use of force," Tanzanian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo told Al-Jazeera, referring to "pockets of violence" in the country.

"I haven't seen these 700 deaths," he continued. "We still don't have any figures for any victims in the country," the Tanzanian foreign minister stated.

The opposition's death toll was described as "quite credible" by a diplomatic source, who reported "hundreds of dead." A security source interviewed by AFP received similar information.

"Security forces are in the hospitals. They are trying to control the narrative" on the number of victims so as not to put the government in a difficult position, an Amnesty International researcher told AFP.

Fear

Several hospitals and health centers declined to comment to AFP. The internet remains largely blocked, complicating data collection efforts.

"When the situation calms down, the internet will be restored," assured Hamisi Mbeto, a spokesperson for the ruling party in Zanzibar, at a press conference. "If you leave internet access open, people spread rumors and create chaos."

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on Tanzanian security forces not to use "disproportionate" force against protesters, and cited "credible reports" of 10 deaths.

Despite a lockdown decreed in Dar es Salaam, hundreds of people were walking in the city's streets on Friday, John Kitoka and the security source told AFP.

The target of their anger is the head of state Samia Suluhu Hassan, promoted to the head of Tanzania upon the death of her predecessor John Magufuli in 2021, who this time aspires to be elected.

Initially praised for easing restrictions imposed by her predecessor, she was later accused of carrying out a severe crackdown on her critics, particularly in the lead-up to the election.

Local news sites have not been updated since Wednesday and Ms. Hassan has made no comment on the unrest.

The army chief, Jacob Mkunda, described the protesters as "criminals" on Thursday evening.

"Never a credible election"

The vote count is still ongoing, with regular updates announced on national television which makes no mention of the unrest but shows, unsurprisingly, a landslide victory for the ruling CCM party.

On the island of Zanzibar, a major tourist destination, the CCM was declared the winner of the local elections on Thursday evening. But the opposition party ACT-Wazalendo, which came in second, rejected the results, denounced irregularities, claimed to have been "robbed," and demanded a new election.

"There has never been a credible election since 1995," lamented a 70-year-old man at an opposition rally in Zanzibar, referring to Tanzania's first multi-party elections.

None of the people interviewed dared to give their name.

ACT-Wazalendo was allowed to participate in the elections in Zanzibar, but its presidential candidate Luhaga Mpina was disqualified on the Tanzanian mainland.

The Chadema party was excluded from the elections and called for a boycott of the vote. Its leader, Tundu Lissu, arrested in April, is on trial for treason, an accusation punishable by death.