Calm has returned to Mozambique's capital following two days of protests over food and fuel prices.
Long queues for food and fuel today formed in the streets of Maputo as shops reopened after the violent protests.
The government yesterday said that the unrest had left seven people dead and 288 wounded.
Police denied reports from witnesses and doctors that they had fired live ammunition at protestors, insisting only rubber bullets had been used.
Government spokesman Alberto Nkutumula said the two days of unrest had cost the economy 122 million meticals (€2.6m).
Prices in the import-dependent country have risen on the back of a South African rand whose value has appreciated 43% against the Mozambican metical since this time last year.
Mozambique's state utility company implemented a 13.4% rate increase Wednesday, while the state water supplier raised prices in and around the capital, state newspaper Noticias said.
The price of bread has also risen 17%, increasing pressure on struggling households in a country with a per-capita income of just $794 (€620) a year.
Maputo residents left hungry after two days of store closures formed 20-metre queues outside bakeries today, but complained they could barely afford to buy bread after a 17% price increase.
'People don't have money to buy food,' domestic worker Elisa Aldino told AFP, as she queued for bread at a bakery in a middle-class neighbourhood.
Long queues of cars had also formed at petrol stations around the city.
This morning, police had reopened major roads and highways, which were closed on Wednesday and Thursday when protestors barricaded them with burning tyres.
Heavy police patrols continue throughout the city, as residents voiced uncertainty on whether the calm would remain.
'For now we don't know if life has returned to normal,' a resident of Xiquelene, an impoverished neighbourhood on the outskirts of Maputo that saw some of the worst clashes between police and rioters, told private broadcaster STV.
The violence is the worst in Mozambique since 2008, when six people were killed in protests against a public transport fare increase.
