Solomon Islands brings in nighttime curfew in capital Honiara after third day of violence
- Earlier 36-hour lockdown was ignored; pro-Beijing leader Sogavare resists calls for resignation; Australian police, soldiers there to help restore order
- Unrest partly a result of frustrations with government, unemployment, worsened by pandemic; ‘most people on one meal a day’
Police fired warning shots and tear gas to scatter rioters who marched on the house of embattled leader Manasseh Sogavare in the east of the usually sleepy seaside capital.
The mob set fire to at least one nearby building before being driven back towards the city centre, witnessed by AFP reporters.
01:57
Solomon Islands riot sets Chinatown ablaze in capital Honiara as protests turn violent
Later, freshly arrived Australian police and soldiers moved to restore order, protecting critical infrastructure and providing a highly visible and heavily armed presence on the streets.
As rain fell in the early evening, local authorities moved to stamp out the embers of violence, declaring a nighttime curfew in Honiara that will remain in force “until revoked”.
Mobs had ignored an earlier 36-hour lockdown, with thousands of people, some brandishing axes and knives, roaming through the city’s Chinatown, Point Cruz and business districts.
The explosion of violence is partly a result of frustrations with Sogavare’s government and chronic unemployment, made worse by the pandemic.