Three people were killed in Harare during post-election protests. The army fired live ammunition on opposition supporters.

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The thud that precedes them silences all conversations, even the most hysterical. On Samora Machel Avenue, between the tall buildings of Harare’s business center, the first armored vehicle burst, preceded by a two-tone siren. Then a second, and others. The six-wheeled Cascavel, with its 90-mm barrel, produces a small effect. They walk to the floor in the city center, turn around, rush on crowds without slowing down.

They do not open fire. For this, there are units on foot, which also have sticks or whips to hit and run, without sorting. Armored vehicles are the element of additional fear. The entire population, trapped in this area of ​​the center of the capital since the middle of the day, when Harare has turned violent after an opposition demonstration, is running around in all directions.

A panicked woman has taken refuge in the lobby of the Jameson Hotel, and timidly asks what the sirens mean. A man, with all the authority of the panic flowing in his veins at this precise moment, declares: "It is the state of emergency. From now on, it is forbidden to go out on the street without being killed. She burst into tears at once. Then understands that the situation is both less serious and more chaotic.

Men ask, and get, to reopen the bar next door. It has been two hours since office workers ran to escape the shots of Zimbabwean police and soldiers. It is a little thirsty. "So much to cool off a little. Who wants a beer? Asks a bank employee who, a moment before, was on the phone with his wife and explained that he no longer had a shirt, having been forced to give his own to make a bandage of fortune to a wounded person , left on the ground during a load of soldiers on a nearby street. "No baby, do not come in the center ....