Protests about a fuel price hike in Angola have left 22 dead and 197 injured, Interior Minister Manuel Homem said Wednesday.

A police officer was among those killed, Homem told reporters after a Council of Ministers session, according to the state-run Angop news agency.

Angolan police arrested 1,214 people for alleged involvement in riots, lootings, and attacks on security forces, according to spokesperson sub-commissioner Mateus Rodrigues.

“We want to reinforce our social condemnation of the acts recorded in Luanda, because it cannot in any way be understood that the acts perpetrated are to be called or treated as demonstrations,” he added.

Minibus and taxi associations hiked fares by 50%, and began a three-day strike Monday when the violence erupted.

The oil-rich southern African nation had been gradually cutting fuel subsidies since 2023, when protests over a petrol hike also turned deadly that year.

-Anadolu