BFF-58 Zimbabwe police fire water cannon, teargas at opposition: AFP

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Zimbabwe police fire water cannon, teargas at opposition: AFP

HARARE, Aug 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Zimbabwe police Wednesday fired water
cannon and teargas at opposition supporters in Harare, an AFP correspondent
witnessed, as tensions erupted over alleged fraud in the election.

Officers had been facing off through a locked gate against protesters who
brandished opposition party banners, lit fires and chanted slogans against
the ruling ZANU-PF party.

“You said you were better than Mugabe — you are the picture of Mugabe,”
shouted one young male protester wearing a white T-shirt. “We need security
for the people.”

European Union election observers had earlier criticised the elections,
the first since long-time ruler Robert Mugabe stepped down in November, for
being held on an “un-level playing field”.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party and the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission of using underhand tactics to steal the election from
them.

An angry crowd of mostly young men, some of whom covered their faces,
whistled and chanted “Chamisa, Chamisa” in downtown Harare.

BSS/AFP/ARS/2011 hrs