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Two shot dead by Zimbabwe police in minibus clash

By AFP
23 February 2018   |   3:20 pm
Zimbabwean police said Friday they had shot two people dead and injured four others during a confrontation in the capital Harare over a ban on commuter minibuses in the city centre.

A crowd gathers around a burnt out shell of a car torched outside Harare Central Police Station on February 23, 2018, in Harare following a mob angered by the fatal shooting of a male civilian pedestrian during clashes between commuters and police blocking commuter buses from enterng the central business district of Harare. / AFP PHOTO / Jekesai NJIKIZANA

Zimbabwean police said Friday they had shot two people dead and injured four others during a confrontation in the capital Harare over a ban on commuter minibuses in the city centre.

City authorities on Thursday banned minibuses from using pick-up points in central Harare in a move to tackle traffic congestion, angering both drivers and passengers.

The ban was reversed within hours by the government, but police had already been deployed to implement it.

“I wish to announce the death of two people in a very unfortunate and regrettable incident on 22 February,” police commissioner general Godwin Matanga told journalists.

“As the (unbanning) directive was given, the police and other security agencies were still in the middle of the operation enforcing the ban and unaware of the cancellation,” Matanga said.

“Police officers fired shots that unfortunately killed two people and injured four others.”

He said three police officers were seriously injured and three police cars were badly damaged in violent clashes that followed the shooting.

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