Youth militia, not soldiers behind skirmishes in Harare?

The youths who were unarmed, wore green regalia which might have convinced people they were soldiers. Reports that soldiers who had been unpaid, attacked money changers and clashed with police have been dismissed as slightly inaccurate.

Zimbabwe soldiers clash with police in Harare

Opinion Zone

Green Bombers

02 December 2008

By Staff Reporters

Zimbabwe's notorious youth militia are thought to be behind a spate of indiscriminate attacks on forex dealers and vendors in Harare since last week, rather than members of the army as reported.

Nehanda Radio sources say the youths who were unarmed, wore green regalia which might have convinced people they were soldiers. Reports that unpaid soldiers attacked money changers and clashed with police have been dismissed as slightly inaccurate.

Still, with the strict control of information in the country it remains difficult to verify events. Some reports had said riot police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of stone-throwers who chased a group of soldiers they accused of a violent crackdown on illegal foreign currency dealers.

While it cannot be denied that there were running skirmishes, the Border Gezi Training camp youths have traditionally been used by the Reserve Bank to mount so-called anti-black market raids on the street dealers and it does look like they are behind the current clashes.

Police said they were unaware of the incidents, and there were no reports of injuries but Nehanda Radio understands one man was shot on Monday during the disturbances. Most shops in Harare also closed down due to the clashes.

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