Zambia’s Kaunda calls for end to gas attacks

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Zambia’s Kaunda calls for end to gas attacks

3:58 CAT | 26 Feb 2020

Mr Kaunda said the attacks were sullying Zambia's reputation as a peaceful country. [File photo: AFP]

Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda has called for an end to the mysterious gas attacks on homes and public buildings in the southern African nation.

At least 50 people suspected to be behind the attacks have been killed by mobs since the first case was reported in December.

“I emphasize this point: the chemical attacks must be stopped. And the mob attacks on suspected members of the public must stop”, the 96-year-old Mr Kaunda told the state-owned news agency, the Zambia National Information Services.

In one mob attack last week, a man joined a crowd that was beating up a suspect, not aware that it was his uncle. The suspect was killed by the mob.

Mr Kaunda said the attacks on homes, schools, colleges and prisons was of grave concern because Zambia was always known as a peaceful country.

“The chemical attacks and mob justice on fellow members of society disturb the efforts we have [made] towards a society of harmony and stability,” he added.

Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has offered a $17,000 (£13,000) reward for the arrest of people behind the attacks and has deployed the army to the most-affected areas to help reassure the public.

More than 370 homes have been targeted in the last three weeks in the country’s Copperbelt province, affecting at least 1,000 people.

A suspect interrogated on video by those who caught him said the attackers wanted to draw blood in syringes from those who had passed out.

There has been speculation that the blood is being taken for use in rituals such as those that claim to bring good luck or wealth.

It is unclear what gas is being used in the attacks, which have been taking place during the day and at night.

Source: BBC