HARARE The MDC says a new compilation of victims of 2008 post-election violence shows as many as 500 of its members lost their lives during that turbulent period.
The Tsvangirai MDC has established a follow-up team to document all cases of political violence that went unreported at the time, said its welfare coordinator, Brighton Matimba. Previous estimates from the MDC as to how many fatalities were caused by post-election violence put the number around 200.
Most independent accounts of the violence say the vast majority of victims
were members or officials of the MDC-T, and that the violence was mainly carried out by youth militia or war veterans linked to the former ruling party, Zanu (PF). But there were indications that the military and security forces took part in or supported the violence.