ZIMBABWE: Three dead in Harare amid election unrest

Three people have died in protests in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, state broadcaster ZBC has said.  Soldiers on Wednesday opened fire to disperse stone-throwing opposition supporters who accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of rigging the elections, witnesses said. Opposition alliance Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) called the state’s response “disproportionate and unjustified”. In a video statement, […]

Three people have died in protests in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, state broadcaster ZBC has said. 

Soldiers on Wednesday opened fire to disperse stone-throwing opposition supporters who accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of rigging the elections, witnesses said. Opposition alliance Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) called the state’s response “disproportionate and unjustified”.

In a video statement, President Emmanuel Mnangagwa blamed the violence on supporters of the opposition and urged the MDC leadership to “remove its violent supporters from the street”.  Protests started early on Wednesday after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) released results showing the ruling party, ZANU-PF, won most seats in parliament.

ZANU-PF, which has been in power since the southern African country got independence in 1980, won 145 seats in the 210-seat parliament, the commission said. MDC picked up 60 seats.