Mayhem in Tanzania as gunman shot dead near French Embassy

Police in Dar es Salaam has shot down a gun wielding assailant who was on a shooting spree roaming the Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road from the Selanda Bridge area.

The man whose identity is yet to be established was trotting the streets while wielding two assault rifles with city dwellers at his mercy.

Road users on the usually calm Oyesterbay/Upanga area were forced to abandon their cars as they ran for dear lives.

Videos posted on social media show a joint police operation round up the assailant before he is gunned down in the middle of the road outside the French Embassy gate.

Eye witnesses who were at the scene say the cocky assailant could have killed some people during the shooting.

The man who was wearing a checked shirt and khaki trousers  is seen punching in the air then thumps his chest in a presumed victory before he is brought down by a hail of bullets from security forces.

Once down, several bullets further rain on him before officers move in to take away one of the riffles that he was holding.

The Selanda Bridge area which borders Upanga and Oysterbay is surrounded by residents of foreign missions such as the French Embassy, Japanese Embassy, Kenyan embassy, Russian embassy and a close proximity to financial institutions such as Stanbic Bank and KCB Bank.

The motive of the attack remains unknown.

The incident happened just hours after the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Simon Sirro had assured the nation that criminal offences had dropped by 12 per cent
Speaking on Wednesday August 25, 2021 at the opening of a workshop for Regional police commanders and officers in Dar es Salaam, he said statistics show that crime is on the decline.

He said in the period July 2020 to June 2021 the number of offenses reported to police stations was 49,508 compared to 56,397 offenses in the same period 2019/2020.