The government has dismissed claims may by a human rights NGO that 17 people were killed by security forces during the January protests.
The government says that instead, one police officer was killed while 78 were injured. Writing on Twitter, the Ministry of Information said:
In the violent disturbances of the 14-16 January 2019, there was a concerted attack against police officers resulting in one deceased officer & 78 injured across the country as follow: Harare 56, Bulawayo 16, Manicaland 03, Mashonaland East 03.
The violent gangs did commit a lot of atrocities against fellow citizens. They robbed them, assaulted them, stripped female police officers naked as well as burn crime dockets in police stations amongst a raft of other crimes.
However, the MDC Alliance has rejected those claims as ‘fake news’. MDC president Nelson Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said:
Fake news will not work in this era, that may have worked for Gukurahundi, but technology will not allow such nonsense.