Tanzania's main opposition said hundreds had been killed in three days of election protests, with the country still under an internet blackout on Friday and the government denying any use of "excessive force".

A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam both told AFP that deaths were "in the hundreds" as protests continued on Friday.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to cement her position and silence critics in her party with an emphatic win in Wednesday's election, in which her main challengers were either jailed or barred from standing.

But the vote descended into chaos as 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.

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Tha

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