HARARE, THREE passengers have been injured as Zimbabwean police opened fire on a taxi that allegedly refused orders to stop at a road block.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The incident in the capital city Harare brings to the fore the heavy-handedness of police in the Southern African country where running battles between police and taxi drivers are rife.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
These tensions escalate during the festive season as police beef up their presence on the roads.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, the police spokesman, confirmed the shooting.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
He apologised to the victims aged between 24 and 32. They have been admitted for treatment at the Parirenyatwa Hospital.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As police, we want to apologise for this unfortunate incident which could have been avoided if the driver had taken heed of police instructions, Nyathi said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The driver was not injured and sped off and abandoned the kombi in the city centre.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Apart from the failure to produce a driver’s licence, the driver allegedly no route authority, vehicle licence and passengers’ licence for the vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
We also urge commuter omnibus owners (taxi operators) not to employ unlicensed drivers. We urge drivers to stop at all police checkpoints and to comply with instructions, Nyathi said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Nyathi confirmed the kombi driver was now facing charges of attempted murder, reckless driving and driving without a licence.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe security forces have a history of heavy handedness.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, soldiers opened fire and killed hordes of protesters following a 300 percent fuel increase.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: CAJ News Agency <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HARARE, THREE passengers have been injured as Zimbabwean police opened fire on a taxi that allegedly refused orders to stop at a road block.The incident in the capital city Harare brings to the fore the heavy-handedness of police in the Southern Afric…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n