Tanzania’s government on Friday downplayed protests that have rocked several cities since a general election earlier this week as “isolated incidents” and said it was working to swiftly restore normalcy.

Protests erupted on Wednesday over anger about the exclusion of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s two biggest challengers from the race and what the government’s critics say is widespread repression.

Police have imposed an overnight curfew in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam over the past two nights after government offices and other buildings were set ablaze, and internet access has been disrupted since Wednesday.

There have been no confirmed casualty counts, but a diplomatic source said there were credible reports of dozens of deaths.

The government issued its first comments direct

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