Zimbabwe army patrols ghost town city

Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, is a ghost town as most people stay indoors ahead of the release of disputed presidential election results.

Troops patrolled the city centre, ordering people to “behave”.

Six people were killed after Wednesday’s clashes in the city between the security forces and supporters of opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.

He says Monday’s polls were being rigged to give President Emmerson Mnangagwa victory.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) said there was “absolutely no skulduggery”, and it would begin releasing presidential results at 20:00 GMT.

Mr Chamisa insists he has won, and has called on his supporters to await “mass celebrations”.

The elections were the first since long-time ruler Robert Mugabe, 94, was ousted in November.

The polls were intended to set Zimbabwe on a new path following Mr Mugabe’s repressive rule.

However, Mr Chamisa’s MDC Alliance has accused the military of using excessive force to quell Wednesday’s protests.

Mr Mnangagwa said the government was in talks with Mr Chamisa to defuse the crisis and proposed an independent investigation to bring those who were behind the violence to justice.

“This land is home to all of us, and we will sink or swim together,” Mr Mnangagwa said in a series of tweets.

No violence was reported on Thursday. A truckload of armed policemen and soldiers were driving around the city shouting, “Behave yourself, people of Zimbabwe.”

Riot police raided the headquarters of the MDC Alliance, and detained about 10 people.

A BBC reporter in Harare says the city centre is like a ghost town.

Police said three people died in hospital, bringing to six the number killed in the unrest.

Another 14 people were injured in the violence, police added.

In his first public appearance since the election, Mr Chamisa visited some of them in hospital.

He said the MDC Alliance accepted defeat in the parliamentary election, but not in the presidential poll.

Zanu-PF, in power since the country gained its independence 38 years ago, has won a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged Zimbabwe’s politicians to exercise restraint, while UK foreign office minister Harriett Baldwin said she was “deeply concerned” by the violence.

The US embassy in Harare advised its citizens to avoid the city centre, following Wednesday’s unrest.

In a message to Zimbabwe’s politicians, the embassy said there was a “historic opportunity to move the country towards a brighter future”.

“Violence cannot be part of that process,” it added.

China, Zimbabwe’s main international ally, said it hoped all sides would put the country’s interests first following a “generally peaceful and orderly” election.

The day after the election, the MDC Alliance said Mr Chamisa had won the presidential election, pre-empting an official announcement and prompting its supporters to celebrate in some areas of Harare

When Zec announced that Zanu-PF had won the parliamentary vote by a landslide on Wednesday, things turned nasty.

The opposition supporters were are also angered by the delay in announcing the presidential results.

Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu said the government would not tolerate such protests.

The opposition “are testing our resolve, and I think they are making a big mistake”, he said.

A spokesman for Mr Chamisa condemned the deployment of soldiers and the subsequent loss of life.