Tanzania president wins 98% in election as opposition says hundreds killed

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan condemned protests around the election in which she was declared winner on Saturday with almost 98 percent of the vote, while the opposition said hundreds have been killed by security forces.

The electoral commission said Hassan won 97.66 percent of the vote and turnout was at 87 percent, despite reports from AFP journalists and other observers that polling stations were largely empty early Wednesday before election day descended into violent protests.

"The government strongly condemns the violent incidents. These incidents were not patriotic at all," said Hassan as she accepted a winner's certificate on state television.

Hassan, 65, had sought to cement her position and silence critics in her party with an emphatic victory in which the main oppos