Roundup: Two burnt to death in Zambia's xenophobic attacks: police

The police in Zambia on Wednesday revealed that two people were burnt to death during two days of attacks on foreign owned shops in Lusaka, the country's capital.

Meanwhile, calm has returned to the Zambian capital after riots that targeted foreign owned shops.

Riots erupted in Lusaka on Monday in two low-income areas west of Lusaka, in which residents looted shops owned by foreigners, mostly from Rwanda, after rumors that the owners were behind a spate of ritual killings which left seven people dead, with missing body parts.

The riots spread to other parts of the city on Tuesday, in which more shops were attacked, sending panic among the foreigners who sought refuge in police stations.

Some reports indicated that five people were killed during the riots.

But Zambia police spokesperson Charity Munganga-Chanda said only two people were burnt to death in Kanyama slums, south of the city during the riots on Monday.

She further expressed sadness over increased speculations which she said have fueled the attacks on foreign shops, adding that criminals took advantage of the speculations and looted shops.

"All those spreading false rumors that are creating anxiety or fear in members of the public are alarming the nation and that is an offense. The Zambia police will therefore not hesitate to arrest such people regardless of the medium they are using," she said.

The police spokesperson further dispelled reports that human body parts were found in fridges belonging to foreigners and that no nurse has been arrested in connection with the ritual killings.

The police have since appealed to foreigners whose shops were looted to report to the police so that the true value of the property could be assessed.

On Tuesday, the police announced that over 250 people were arrested in connection with the looting.

At least 65 shops belonging to foreigners have so far been looted.

Rwandans are the largest group of immigrants in Zambia who came as refugees but many of them have integrated into communities after the expiry of their refugee status.

The government is currently implementing a program of integrating the former Rwandese refugees into local communities under an integration program supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Rwandese refugees around the world lost their refugee status on June 30, 2013 under a cessation clause applying to Rwandans who fled their country before Dec. 31, 1998. The Zambian government had pledged support to integrate 4,000 out of 6,000 former Rwandan refugees in the country. Endit