Zimbabwe: clashes in Harare between opposition supporters and law enforcement
In Zimbabwe, the party, Zanu-PF, has already won the majority of seats in Parliament, while only two-thirds of the results of the legislative elections have been announced by the electoral commission.
The party currently has 110 seats out of 210 to be awarded. The opposition MDC won 41. Provisional results that MDC supporters did not accept, they began protesting in front of the electoral commission offices.
The police and army tried to disperse them and one man was killed. The United States calls on the army to “show restraint” against the protesters.
In the early afternoon, several hundred opposition protesters gathered in front of the offices where the results of the elections are being analyzed.
The police arrived, there were clashes and then the army intervened.
The army began firing causing large crowd movements. Many people have gone in all directions. “I took refuge in a building, says the RFI journalist on the spot.
The army started chasing journalists and beating them. They even broke the camera of a television reporter.
The army is clearly racing opponents in downtown Harare and one man has been killed. He was wounded by a stomach wound and succumbed to his injuries, according to the report of a photographer Agence France Presse present on site.
The United States calls for restraint
“We urge Zimbabwe’s defense forces to exercise restraint when they disperse protesters,” the US embassy said in a tweet, saying “deeply worried” about the latest developments in the country.
— U.S. Embassy Harare (@usembassyharare) August 1, 2018
