BY MOSES MATENGA
THE Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) yesterday said an incident last week that saw six soldiers reportedly arrested after killing a civilian and injuring three others in Guinea Fowl was a case of mistaken identity as the soldiers and the villagers they clashed with were both tracking copper thieves.
ZNA spokesperson Alphios Makotore said the incident was unfortunate.
Six soldiers were arrested by the police and were set to face murder, attempted murder and assault charges after the death of Tatenda Munetsiwa and injuries to three other civilians during a shootout.
“The Guinea Fowl shooting incident which occurred on January 16, 2021, resulting in Tatenda Munetsiwa getting fatally shot by 5:2 Infantry Battalion soldiers who were reacting to a report of theft of copper cables, was a question of mistaken identity,” Makotore said.
He said the mix-up emanated from the fact that William Shoko and Simon Muzondo reported to the soldiers at Guinea Fowl Army base that there was a group of thieves cutting copper wire and the army immediately set up a patrol.
However, a group of civilians, including Munetsiwa had also set up an ambush to try and nab the thieves, leading to the unintended clash.
“Meanwhile, the group of civilians which had among them the now-deceased (Munetsiwa) had already set up its own ambush to apprehend the thieves.
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“Unbeknown to each other, the soldiers’ patrol and the civilian group were working for a common purpose,” he said.
Makotore said the soldiers thought the civilian group was trying to disarm them and opened fire, resulting in Munetsiwa’s death.
“To demonstrate that this was an unfortunate incident, both the civilian group and the soldiers’ patrol reported at Guinea Fowl base what had transpired during the incident.”
He said it would be unfair to speculate on what transpired on the day and called for people to wait for investigations currently underway.
But according to the police report, the six soldiers on January 16 2021 at about 8:45pm, booked an AK47 rifle serial number 60253 armed with a magazine of 28 rounds as they went on patrol, targeting thieves who usually steal in the surrounding areas.
They were all in civilian attire. They went around beating people they met along the way, accusing them of being thieves and killed Munetsiwa when he led a group of people who confronted the soldiers to stop the indiscriminate attacks on villagers.
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