By James Kunda
LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) – Peace has been restored following four days of clashes between illegal gold miners and police in a district in Zambia's North-Western Province, which killed three people and injured five officers, police said on Sunday.
According to Police Assistant Public Relations Officer Godfrey Chilabi, the clash erupted on Thursday when police were deployed to prevent illegal mining activities at a site called Kikonge in the Mufumbwe district, which has experienced a gold rush.
Sources in the area told Anadolu that the local community recently discovered the gold mine in Kikonge, prompting hundreds of people to rush to the site in search of their fortune. However, some people claimed ownership of the site and requested police assistance to stop illegal mining, they added.
Illegal miners reacted aggressively, attacking officers with weapons and attempting to set fire to two police vehicles, local media reported him as saying in a statement.
“In response, police fired warning shots to disperse the violent crowd, and in the process, two people were shot and died on the way to the hospital," Chilabi said.
He said four of the injured officers are receiving treatment at a Mufumbwe hospital, while another is being treated at a hospital in Solwezi, the provincial headquarters for North-Western Province.
"Peace has been restored, and police are maintaining patrols to ensure calm," he added.
The incident occurred after days of ongoing battles between law enforcement and miners, with the country's Defense Ministry announcing on Sunday that police have dispatched reinforcements to restore law and order on site.
"The police have sent reinforcements to the mine to restore law and order after days of running battles with illegal miners," the Defense Ministry's principal public relations officer, Paul Shalala, said in a statement in the capital, Lusaka.
Defense and security officials will also visit the affected area, he added.
Zambia has recently seen an increase in unregulated mining, particularly in remote areas, with unregistered tenements being exploited for deposits.
Last week, the country's Cabinet authorized the deployment of defense and security personnel in all areas affected by illegal mining in an effort to restore order and sanity.