A Venezuelan monitoring group says at least a dozen people have been killed by gunfire in a wave of anti-government unrest rocking Venezuela, where a young opposition leader and socialist President Nicolas Maduro both claim to be chief of state.

Coordinator Marco Ponce with the non-profit Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict gave the death toll and names of those reported slain to the Associated Press on Thursday.

Seven deaths had been reported earlier.

For a third consecutive night, there were reports of looting in poor neighborhoods in Caracas and clashes between protesters and state security forces.

Amnesty International is calling on Maduro to uphold demonstrators’ rights and immediately remove any military or police offers involved in repression.

The troubled South American nation has plunged into a new chapter of uncertainty following Wednesday’s mass protests and competing claims to the presidency.