Eswatini minister says 27 killed during protests

Protests first erupted in May, but escalated last week, forcing the government to deploy the army to reinforce the police and quell the violent demonstrations.

"Unfortunately, yes, 27 people lost their lives," Commerce Minister Manqoba Khumalo said in a phone interview, expressing regret that force had to be used to break up the protests. 

Local civil society and opposition groups have claimed that up to 60 civilians were killed. 

The UN has voiced alarm at the deadly unrest and called for an independent investigation into all alleged rights abuses, including by law enforcement.

"It was not intended, but... the nature of the attacks that were happening was such that in some instances force had to be used, and in some instances gunfire had to be exchanged, and there were casualties," he said.

"In some cases people were trapped in buildings when those buildings were burned... This is very unfortunate."

He said King Mswati III, was "very concerned"  about the loss of lives.

Most of the violence occurred between Monday and Thursday last week, he said.

READ: UN says deeply concerned by Eswatini violence

Eswatini, previously called Swaziland, is a tiny landlocked state of 1.3 million people, sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique.

Protestors last week ramped up demands for political reform in the country -- Africa's last absolute monarchy.

- 'Foreign elements' -

A probe will be launched into the actions of the security forces.

"If we find evidence of police or even the army doing something to civilians who were not part of the criminal activity, that will also be investigated through our system and rightful action taken," he said.

He said around three billion lilangeni ($210 million, 178 million euros) of business assets were lost through arson and pillaging, while an estimated 5,000 people have lost their livelihoods.

"What was happening last week was not a protest, it was looting, burning and destruction, big shops were destroyed... vandalism," the minister said.

The protesters reportedly targeted some of the businesses linked to the king who critics accuse of living lavishly along with his 15 wives while ordinary people are mired in poverty.

He blamed "foreign elements" for whipping up the violence, mentioning specifically South Africa's leftist opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party. 

READ: South African journalists say held, 'tortured' in Eswatini

"There is collaboration between the people that are agitating for the instability and the EFF," he said.

The UN's rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said on Tuesday there were claims that security forces had engaged in "disproportionate and unnecessary use of force" deployed to quell protests.

Protests first erupted in May following the death of a 25-year-old law student, allegedly at the hands of police, but the minister said that protests "quickly fizzled out".

"That issue is no longer the issue, the issue now is these political reforms that are being requested.

"We have a constitution that outlines how things are done."