(Bloomberg) -- The death toll in Zimbabwe from a week of violence that erupted during a nationwide strike over fuel prices has risen to 12, according to a rights group.
At least 78 people have been treated for gunshot wounds and 242 others received medical treatment after being assaulted, tortured or bitten by dogs that were set on them, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, an umbrella body which collates information from member organizations, said in a statement emailed on Friday.
Thousands of Zimbabweans have taken to the streets this week, barricading roads and torching some government property after the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions called for a strike to protest the state’s doubling of fuel prices.
Security forces have responded to the demonstrations with live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas while the government twice shut down the internet to stem the flow of information.
The Forum said it has recorded 466 “arbitrary arrests and detentions” and is still compiling a list of people displaced by the violence.
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