(Reuters) -Tanzanian police ordered a curfew in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday after violent protests marred an election that President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to win following the disqualification of the two leading opposition candidates.

The unrest began after the country’s electoral commission disqualified two major opposition candidates ahead of the vote, leaving President Hassan virtually unchallenged.

While a spokesperson from the opposition Chadema party told news agency AFP that "around 700" people had been killed in clashes with security forces, a diplomatic source in Tanzania told the BBC there was credible evidence that at least 500 people had died.

Recent clashes in Tanzania following a disputed general election have resulted in at least ten deaths and numerous injuries. Protests erupted after opposition candidates were barred from running, leading to accusations of electoral fraud against the ruling CCM party.

As political scientists Adam Branch and Zachariah Mamphilly observe, in protests, what seems possible can change profoundly and suddenly. Whenever protests gather momentum, the dynamics of their formation and repression change. Security personnel can seem hopelessly outnumbered. Protests can seem unassailably large.

The Tanzanian government deployed the military and ordered a curfew in Dar es Salaam after violence broke out on election day. Can the government reclaim Tanzania's image as a peaceful, stable nation?

Authorities in Tanzania have imposed a curfew in Dar es Salaam, the country's biggest city, following violent unrest between the police and protesters that erupted during Wednesday’s general election which is expected to offer President Samia Suluhu Hassan a second term.