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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Police torched six miles of shacks and kiosks in an opposition stronghold near Victoria Falls on Monday during an ongoing operation critics says is aimed at scapegoating street traders for Zimbabwe's near-emergency economic crisis.
The burnings were just the latest sign of economic chaos in the southern African nation — once the regional breadbasket. In the last week, the government dramatically boosted staple food prices, devalued its currency by 45 percent and warned 4 million of its people may face famine.
Thousands of street traders have been arrested and their wares seized or destroyed since the crackdown began May 19, and police using torches, sledgehammers and bulldozers have burned and demolished kiosks and homes of the urban poor in shantytowns around the country. The campaign has left thousands sleeping in the open, government opponents say.
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