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The government of the Comoros announced the temporary suspension of new, elevated fuel prices on Saturday, backing down after the price hikes triggered widespread demonstrations and fatal clashes across the East African nation.
The reversal followed violent confrontations between security forces and demonstrators on the island of Anjouan, which left one person dead and five others injured.
Energy Minister Aboubacar Saïd Anli stated during a press conference that President Azali Assoumani chose to suspend the decrees to restore peace and allow for constructive dialogue with the public.
The unrest escalated rapidly following a meeting between local officials and a fishermen’s association that had been on strike to protest the economic strain.
In response to the price hikes, demonstrators blocked major roads with stones in Mutsamudu, the capital of Anjouan, leading to a judicial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of a citizen nearby.
The public anger followed a broader national strike that began earlier in the week after the government raised diesel prices by 46 per cent and gasoline by 35 per cent, blaming global oil market disruptions tied to the ongoing conflict involving Iran.
Before the suspension, transport workers and local shopkeepers had successfully paralysed public transit in the national capital of Moroni, resulting in the detention of 39 individuals by local authorities.
The civil unrest quieted significantly on Saturday following the government’s announcement.
Representatives from both the transport workers’ union and the merchants’ union subsequently declared an official end to their strike actions, allowing regular commerce and transit to resume.
