Zimbabwe Blocks Social Media As Crackdown Intensifies

Zimbabwe on Friday blocked most social media as international criticism mounted of a ruthless security crackdown after anti-government protests.

Police and soldiers have been accused of indiscriminately dragging people from their homes and beating them.

Several hundred people have been arrested and doctors say they have treated scores of victims for serious gunshot injuries.

The United Nations human rights office on Friday urged Harare to “stop the crackdown”, voicing alarm over the security forces’ “excessive use of force” which included reports of them using live ammunition.

And it urged Zimbabwe’s government “to find ways of engaging with the population about their legitimate grievances”.

Nationwide demonstrations erupted on Monday after President Emmerson Mnangagwa said fuel prices would double in a country which suffers regular shortages of banknotes, fuel, food and medicine.

The internet was entirely blocked until Friday afternoon when some service was resumed.

Econet, the biggest internet provider, told customers it had been ordered by the government to re-open the internet “except for specified social media applications.”