Zimbabwe Crackdown 'taste Of Things To Come': President Spokesman

Harare, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2019 ) :Zimbabwe's brutal crackdown after recent protests is "just a foretaste of things to come", the presidential spokesman told a state-run newspaper Sunday, as he blamed opposition parties for stoking unrest.

The crackdown has underlined fears of a return to the violent repression of Robert Mugabe, who was ousted from power by the military 14 months ago.

At least 12 people have been killed and 78 treated for gunshot injuries over the last week, according to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, which has recorded more than 240 incidents of assault and torture.

The UN has fiercely criticised the government reaction to the protests as allegations mount of shootings, beatings and abductions of opposition figures, activists and ordinary residents.

"The response so far is just a foretaste of things to come," George Charamba, spokesman for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, told the Sunday news.

"The MDC (opposition party) and its affiliate organisations will be held fully accountable for the violence and the looting."