Abebe Terfe, executive secretary of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, said 20 people were killed in a third day of protests over election results. The claim could not immediately be verified.

An Associated Press reporter saw eight bodies packed into a room in the city’s main hospital, many with gunshot wounds, and was told they represented only some of the casualties from a third day of protests in the capital over election results.

The protests have erupted despite Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s move to ban demonstrations immediately after the May 15 legislative election. Meles’ party won a majority of seats in the election, according to official results. Opposition parties say there was widespread fraud and intimidation, charges the ruling party denies.

The shooting began after the army’s special forces troops arrived at the central business district where protesters were throwing stones. It was unclear whether the gunfire came from the heavily armed crack troops or the regular police.

Gunfire explosions were heard, but it was unclear whether security forces were firing rubber bullets, tear gas or live ammunition. Dozens of people were wounded in Wednesday’s melee with gunshots to the chest, legs, arms and back. Most of the victims were young men.

Ambulances brought the wounded to the city’s main Black Lion Hospital. Several hundred people gathered there, some wailing, crying and shouting. Doctors said they were treating many people with serious injuries.

Taxi drivers and shop owners in the Ethiopian capital had gone on strike Wednesday to protest what the opposition says was widespread rigging of last month’s elections.

The city government had threatened to revoke licenses from taxi drivers if they did not remove opposition symbol and posters from their vehicles during the election campaign.

The strikes organized by people who distributed handwritten notes and text messages transmitted by cell phones occurred after two days of violent protests by university students in which one was killed, hundreds were arrested and dozens injured.

The main opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy, said it was not behind the strike.

“We have been calling on people not to do this. We are concerned about what could happen to anyone who is challenging the ruling party because of the attacks on students,” said Vice Chairman Berhanu Nega.

The elections had been seen as a test of Meles’s commitment to reform his sometimes authoritarian regime. Before questions surfaced about the count, EU observers had called the campaign and voting “the most genuinely competitive elections the country has experienced,” despite some human rights violations.

Opposition and ruling parties have alleged that gunmen intimidated voters, people were forced to vote for certain parties, ballot boxes were stuffed or disappeared, and the number of ballots in some constituencies exceeded the number of registered voters.