Harare – Soldiers beat people on the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital and second city Bulawayo overnight, residents said, hours after President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised to investigate a security service crackdown on anti-government protesters.
There was no immediate comment from the government or from the military which kept up patrols and checkpoints in both cities on Wednesday morning. The police and military have denied past accusations of excessive force.
Lawyers and activists say police and soldiers have killed at least a dozen people, wounded scores and arrested hundreds since demonstrations began 10 days ago following a hike in the price of fuel. Police say three people died during the protests.
Zimbabwe’s Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has accused security forces of systematic torture, raising fears that the country is reverting to the authoritarianism that characterised the rule of Mnangagwa’s predecessor, Robert Mugabe.
Residents in two Harare townships and a neighbourhood in Bulawayo said soldiers beat people walking in the streets on Tuesday night.
