{"id":4640,"date":"2024-10-03T15:51:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T15:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=4640"},"modified":"2024-10-03T15:51:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T15:51:46","slug":"unexpected-army-presence-sends-chills-unto-villagers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=4640","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Army Presence Sends Chills Unto Villagers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>Political Correspondent<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The recent deployment of soldiers in Lupane, Matabeleland North, has sparked widespread fear and uncertainty among Tshongogwe villagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Residents have expressed alarm at the heavy military presence, with many still in the dark about the reason behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m from Tshongogwe but work in Victoria Falls. My family called to inform me that soldiers had been deployed in the area,&#8221; said one concerned resident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve occupied places like Mabhunu shops, eDibha, and eGuswini. We don&#8217;t know what they are looking for.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villagers have reported seeing soldiers patrolling the surrounding bushlands, further adding to the community&#8217;s unease. Some have even heard gunshots nearby, fueling their anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;A group of soldiers asked us yesterday if the road they were on led to the main bus route in Mabhunu,&#8221; a villager shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We also heard gunshots near eDibheni.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The soldiers&#8217; heavy artillery has also contributed to the villagers&#8217; fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The soldiers are carrying heavy guns, and people are scared,&#8221; said another villager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, according to Zimbabwe National Army Director of Public Relations, Colonel Alphios Makotore, the military presence is merely part of a routine training exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Troops from the 1 Infantry Brigade were deployed to Lupane for a field training exercise running from September 19 to 26, 2024,&#8221; Colonel Makotore explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He reassured that local authorities and traditional leaders had been informed in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The presence of soldiers in this area revokes memories of the Gukurahundi massacre of the early 80s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soldiers at the time appeared in the same manner. Villagers found themselves surrounded by the army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key Concerns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Unexpected Military Presence: Villagers were not prepared for the sudden deployment of soldiers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of Transparency: Residents are unsure of the reason behind the military presence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fear and Unease: The community is on edge due to the soldiers&#8217; heavy artillery and patrols.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Military Response:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Routine Training Exercise: The Zimbabwe National Army claims the deployment is for a field training exercise.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pre-Notification: Local authorities and traditional leaders were informed in advance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zim GBC News\u00a92024<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Political Correspondent The recent deployment of soldiers in Lupane, Matabeleland North, has sparked widespread fear and uncertainty among Tshongogwe villagers. Residents have expressed alarm at the heavy military presence, with&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4642,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640\/revisions\/4642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}