From Ballots to Barricades: Mozambique's Election Leads to Prison Break in Maputo"

The streets of Mozambique are in tumult for the third day in a row, and now we've got a twist: a jailbreak from Maputo's supposedly impenetrable prison. How many cons hit the road? That's still up in the air.

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Maputo's turned into a wild scene – think barricades, chaos, and people taking whatever they can grab. 

Justino Tonela, from the Ministry of Justice, gave us the lowdown: "Yeah, there's been an escape, but we're still counting heads and sorting out the details."

This max-security clink, just a hop, skip, and a jump from downtown Maputo, is where they stash the big fish – murderers, major criminals, you name it. Over three thousand of them.

With the country still reeling from the election results that dropped like a bomb, Maputo's gone from bad to worse. Social media's buzzing with clips of the jailbreak action – inmates clashing with guards, gunfire popping off.

Locals have been catching it all on their phones, showing dudes dashing through neighborhoods, with soldiers hot on their tails, raiding houses to round them up again.

The big news from Monday was that Daniel Chapo, backed by Frelimo, nabbed the presidency with 65.17% of the vote, taking over from Filipe Nyusi. And Frelimo kept their grip on parliament too.

But this didn't sit well with Venâncio Mondlane's backers, leading to chaos, with folks blocking roads, smashing stuff, and squaring off with cops who've been shooting to break up the crowds.

In just one day, the police logged 236 acts of serious violence linked to the election fallout, including hits on police stations and jails, with 21 people killed, according to Minister Pascoal Ronda. He's beefing up security, no question.

"Calling this peaceful protest is a joke," Ronda said at a press meet in Maputo, amidst the madness.

He listed the damage: 25 cars torched, including two cop cars, 11 police spots and one prison hit hard, freeing 86 prisoners, four toll booths up in flames, three health centers wrecked, one drug depot burned down, and ten Frelimo offices set ablaze.

The toll? 21 dead, with two cops among them, 25 injured, and 78 arrested. They're digging into who's behind this mess.

With all this going down, Ronda made it clear: "We're stepping up security across the board. The Defense and Security Forces are moving in to lock down key spots."

He also warned about armed groups, both with blades and guns, attacking vital spots, suggesting a link to the Cabo Delgado insurgency. "We're looking at organized urban terrorism here," said Ronda, promising action.