Hiiraan Online
3/28/2024
Today from Hiiraan Online:
Home
Somali Map
Sports
Opinion
RSS
Somali Music
Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
advertisements
Attacks on Foreign-Owned Shops Prompt 28 Arrests in South Africa
By Derek Alberts
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
advertisements
South African police said they arrested 28 people suspected of involvement in a deadly looting spree of foreign-owned stores in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.
Attacks that claimed four lives in the port city of Durban on April 9 continued in the KwaMashu area on Sunday night, said Thulani Zwane, a police spokesman.
“Police vehicles that responded to the situation were also stoned by the attackers,” he said by phone on Monday. So far “28 people have been arrested for looting and burning down shops,” he said.
South Africa is struggling to contain an outbreak of violence that’s been directed against immigrants in a number of towns. At least five people have been killed and more than 200 arrested in Gauteng province, the country’s economic hub that includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria.
A heavy presence of security personnel is helping stem the latest violence in KwaZulu-Natal, Zwane said. Local police, who earlier called for reinforcements and canceled some leave, were battling to distinguish between xenophobic attacks and those carried out by opportunistic criminals, he said.
Three camps have been established to house foreign nationals displaced by the violence, said Gugu Mbonambi, a city of Durban spokeswoman.
“The numbers fluctuate quite a bit, but we’re hoping for more clarity tomorrow” on how many people are being accommodated, she said by phone on Monday.
As Africa’s most industrialized nation, South Africa attracts thousands of foreigners every year, seeking refuge from poverty, economic crises, war and government persecution in their home countries. While the bulk of them are from elsewhere on the continent, such as Zimbabwe, Somalia and Ethiopia, many come from Pakistan and India.
The wave of attacks and looting was triggered after a Somali shop owner shot and killed a 14-year-old boy during an alleged robbery in Soweto in January. It’s the worst anti-immigrant violence since 2008, when about 60 people were killed and about 50,000 displaced from their homes.
UPDATE 3: AU soldier, 16 Somalis killed in govt building attack
- HOL
Fundamentalist fail: Muslim woman calls for reform despite attempts to silence her
- Fox News
Militants stage deadly raid on government compound in Mogadishu
- Wpost
Activists criticize Kenya for putting Muslim groups on Shabaab supporters' list
- Reuters
UN urges Kenya to reconsider demand to shut refugee camp
- AP
UPDATE 2: 12 dead as militants storm Somali ministry (with pictures)
- HOL
UPDATE 1: Suspected militants attack Somalia's higher education ministry
- HOL
Dispatches: After Garissa Carnage, Kenya’s Backlash Begins
- HRW
US, African Union Sign Deal to Form African Disease Agency
- VOA
SA is hell on earth, says Somali shopkeeper
- News24
Not just a number: A refugee in Europe
- CNN
Malawi, Somalia to save terrified citizens
- TimesLive
Repatriation of Somali refugees from Dadaab easier said than done
- Standard Digital
If We Ever Retreat From Somali, We Will Bolster Al Shabaab - Maalim
- The Star
Xenophobic looters threaten Times Media team
- SowetanLive
Police recover items 'of interest' in search along Hunt Club Road for Ibrahim murder weapon
- OttawaCitizen
Somali refugees decry Kenya's demand that the UN relocate their camp
- aljazeera
Russia lifts ban on supplying S-300 missiles to Iran
- AFP
Tensions run high in St. Cloud over race relations
- kare11
Home
Email