The capital of Madagascar has imposed a curfew following violent protests

According to a top security official, protests about regular power outages and water shortages turned violent, prompting authorities in Madagascar to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital on Thursday.

According to a Reuters witness, thousands of demonstrators, primarily young people, were marching and holding placards in the capital, Antananarivo, when police used tear gas to scatter them.

The protesters were criticizing the government and calling for the nationwide restoration of dependable energy and water.

General Angelo Ravelonarivo, the leader of a joint security agency comprising the military and police, said in a statement he read on privately owned Real TV late Thursday, “There are unfortunately individuals taking advantage of the situation to destroy other people’s property.”

A curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. was imposed by the security forces to safeguard “the population and their belongings,” “until public order is restored,” according to the statement.

Some claim that the government of President Andry Rajoelina, who was re-elected in 2023, is to responsible for the impoverished state of Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean.

According to the Reuters witness, two politicians’ residences were plundered and vandalized during the protests earlier on Thursday, and a sizable retail center in the capital was looted and subsequently set on fire.

Disobeying a previous police prohibition on the event, the demonstrators marched while yelling, “We need water, we need electricity.”

Following their dispersal, the protests subsequently extended into different capital neighborhoods.

Zafisambatra Ravoavy, a spokesman for the security forces, was unavailable for comment.

Jean Herbert Andriantahiana Rakotomalala, the head of the national police, issued a warning on Wednesday, saying that security personnel would “take firm preventive…measures against those tempted to break the law.”