MDC Alliance is concerned that the army would soon launch a crackdown to decimate the party after senior army and police officials blamed it for the deadly August 1 shootings. Giving their testimony before the Motlanthe Commission in Harare this week, army and police chiefs accused an MDC wing, the Vanguard, of being responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians soon after the July poll. However, it has been reported that the deaths happened after a crack army unit descended onto the CBD and fired live ammunition indiscriminately at fleeing civilians. Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Phillip Valerio Sibanda told the Commission that
The possibility of the Vanguard, a militant group within the MDC Alliance youth league, having weapons and having used these weapons during the disturbances on that day cannot be overruled. There is no hard evidence that the army shot at civilians, but it is also believed that members of the MDC’s Vanguard could have been armed.
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