Overview

• Nighttime curfews were extended to Antananarivo, Antsirabe, Antsiranana, Majunga and Toliara after a day of arson, looting and clashes.
• Demonstrations over chronic water and electricity cuts were blocked by large police and gendarmerie deployments using tear gas and rubber bullets.
• Properties linked to officials were torched, including the home of Senator Lalatiana Rakontondrazafy, and a newly opened cable car station was burned.
• President Andry Rajoelina, speaking from New York, condemned the destruction and dismissed the energy minister; the youth-led Gen Z movement urged a new peaceful rally on Saturday.
• Foreign missions warned residents as casualty reports remained unclear, with RFI citing a hospital source reporting five deaths and RSF denouncing police violence against journalists.