A white farmer has been killed in Zimbabwe following renewed attacks on white-owned farms. Ralph Fenwick Corbett is the seventh white farmer killed since pro-government militants began forcibly occupying white-owned farms 18 months ago.
The 76-year-old's home was broken into on Friday evening by attackers who tied his hands with wire and then hit him on the head with an axe. He died late yesterday evening in Harare.
Mr Corbett's daughter Cheryl told the privately owned Daily News that she held President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party responsible for the attack.
A Commercial Farmers' Union spokesman said that it was unclear whether occupiers on Mr Corbett's farm had committed the attack. He said that the attack was "certainly linked to the prevailing lawlessness and to the fact that at this time, it would be seen that there would be no consequence to committing a crime against a white person."
More than 20 white farmers were held overnight by police for allegedly assaulting "war veterans" who had been attacking white-owned farms in the village of Chinoyi. It has been reported that a group of white farmers went to protect a friend whose land had been invaded by 50 militant government supporters who had attempted to break into his house. Zimbabwean police said that the farmers will be charged with public violence and assault.
A number of white women are reported to have sought sanctuary at the offices of the Commercial Farmers' Union.
