Zimbabwe soldiers patrol streets after deadly protests

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – Soldiers patrolled city streets in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, as clashes between protesters and security forces resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.

Across the country, at least five people have been reported killed and dozens have been injured as a result of clashes, during the second of a three-day national strike. 

In the city of Bulawayo, at least one person has reportedly been shot on Tuesday afternoon near a shop where youths had broken in. Earlier on Tuesday, a police officer died from injuries sustained during Monday’s confrontations with demonstrators.

Authorities have called for order and issued a stern warning against attacks on police stations and civilian property. Overall at least 200 people have been arrested in connection with the ongoing violence, which has seen shops destroyed and burnt overnight.

Army trucks and anti-riot vehicles continuously patrolled the low-incomes areas of Bulawayo, firing tear gas and warning shots in a bid to stop the protesters.

Amid the chaos, looting have also erupted. Looters, who refused to go on record, told Al Jazeera that they would rather stock up their homes with food and other necessities, rather than pay exorbitant prices as a result of the fuel hikes.

Addmore Moyo, a 54-year-old civil servant, expressed strong disapproval of the rampant looting, and expressed fears of a violent crackdown.

“It’s a very disgusting situation. How can people steal from their own community? They have looted all the shops in Emakhandeni so how do the shop owners recover from this? Tomorrow we will be going to the same shops looking for bread, this is not right.

“Even worse now there will be a serious backlash from the government because of this. As people we are all suffering and we want the situation to change, but now they will come after the whole community, even the innocent ones,” he told Al Jazeera.

Demonstrations were spurred by Saturday’s announcement 150 percent fuel hike amid deteriorating economic conditions.

In the industrial city’s center, businesses remain shut and police on horseback are on standby, but in the western suburbs of Emakhandeni, Entumbane, Luveve and elsewhere tensions continue to build.

A peaceful protest against the economic crisis and fuel price hike has rapidly changed into a shop looting feat, with people, particularly young boys, breaking into supermarkets, bars and hardware stores to grab food and other items.

Many Zimbabweans across the country have stayed at home and schools have closed as part of the strike called for by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and some leading civil activists.

As a result of the ongoing tensions, internet access has been restricted following a government warning against the use of social media to plan demonstrations.

According to Owen Ncube, the Minister of State for National Security, the protests have been coordinated through social media and he claims the leading opposition, the MDC Alliance is to blame, for inciting people for violent demonstrations.

However the opposition rejects the accusation.

Charlton Hwende, an MDC opposition politician, claimed that a petrol bomb was set aflame at the party headquarters.

In July, President Emmerson Mnangagwa narrowly won a disputed election against MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa.

Mnangagwa’s administration is battling to contain Zimbabwe’s economic crisis and has faced strikes by medical staff and threats of labour action by civil servants in recent weeks.

Low on cash reserves, the Southern African nation is battling severe fuel shortages.

Mnangagwa, who is on an official visit to Russia, has assured citizens his administration’s austerity measures will bear fruit.

He is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, as part of a five country tour of Eastern Europe, where he is seeking to expand Zimbabwe’s business links with the international community.