Tanzania's President John Magufuli. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
By The EASTAFRICAN and AFP
Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has condemned the killing of eight police officers in the restive eastern region.
President Magufuli said in a statement on Friday that he was
surprised and very sorry to learn of the news of the death of eight
police officers on Thursday night.
"President John Pombe Magufuli is surprised and very sorry to
learn of the news of the death of eight police officers killed last
night by armed people," Tanzania's presidency said in a statement.
The Thursday tragedy is the latest in a string of killings
targeting politicians and security officers in the East African nation.
Their assailants
The law enforcers came under attack in their vehicle at Kibiti
as they returned from patrol, and their assailants fled into a nearby
forest, the statement said.
They were part of a unit deployed to pacify the region south of Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
Local authorities say nine officials belonging to the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) have been killed in the coastal districts of Kibiti and Rufiji since last October.
A separate attack killed three police officers in the area last month.
Motorcycle taxis
The killings, and uncertainty over the motive, has spread fear throughout local government in the region.
While the assailants have not been identified, they typically
use motorcycle taxis to escape after assassinations and steal weapons
from police officers' bodies.
President called for "cooperation of all Tanzanians to stop these acts".
A former minister of works who campaigned on an anti-corruption
platform, Dr Magafuli won election in East Africa's most populous
country in 2015.
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