Zimbabwe police have arrested a prominent activist and pastor along with hundreds of others in a harsh crackdown on protests against fuel price hikes.
Zimbabwe's state security minister says more than 600 people have been arrested countrywide amid protests over dramatic fuel price increases.
As some hungry Harare residents reported being tear-gassed by police when they ventured out for bread, President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday denounced what he called "wanton violence and cynical destruction".
He noted a right to protest and said he understands the "pain and frustration", but appeared to side with authorities who blame the opposition for unrest.
Pastor Evan Mawarire was clutching a Bible when police bundled him into their car in the capital Harare on Wednesday.
He had organised what became nationwide anti-government protests in 2016 against mismanagement and then president Robert Mugabe's long stay in power.
Mawarire's lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said Mawarire was alleged to have incited violence in the CBD through Twitter and other social media.
There were widespread reports of violence as Zimbabwe faced a third day of protests over what has become the world's most expensive petrol.
Zimbabwe's largest telecom company, Econet, sent text messages to customers saying it had been forced by the government to shut down internet service.
"The matter is beyond our control," it said.
Armed police and soldiers broke up groups of more than five people in Harare, while desperation for food forced some people to venture into the streets.
But virtually all shops were closed.
Police fired tear gas after a crowd tried to overrun a shopping centre that opened to sell bread.
Soldiers with AK-47s took charge of the long line.
"This kind of life is unbearable, we have soldiers at fuel queues and now soldiers again are controlling the bread queue," said one man, who wished to remain anonymous.
"Are we at war?"
Eight people were killed on Monday when police and military fired on crowds, according to Amnesty International.
But Zimbabwe's government said three people were killed, including a policeman who was stoned to death by an angry crowd.
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said in a statement that it had attended to 107 patients by late Tuesday afternoon, with injuries including gunshot wounds to the head.
Australian Associated Press
