THIS DAY IN HISTORY|SALISBURY, Rhodesia, (Reuters) — Gunmen in a speeding car fired shots today at the former home of Robert Mugabe, the Rhodesian guerrilla leader, wounding two of his nephews. The incident served as a clear warning of the dangers facing the Marxist leader when he returns from exile.
RHODESIAN LEADER’S HOME IS ATTACKED: Innocent Mugabe, left, and Patrick, nephews of Robert Mugabe, Patriotic Front leader, being greeted by family members after their release from the hospital. They were wounded when gunmen fired on their home in Salisbury yesterday, a day after the peace pact was signed. Page 3.
Gunmen in Car Fire at Mugabe Home in Salisbury, Wounding 2 Relatives
Elsewhere in Salisbury, policemen armed with shotguns dispersed a demonstration by about 300 followers of Joshua Nkomo, co‐leader with Mr. Mugabe of the Patriotic Front guerrilla organization.
The incidents occurred less than 24 hours after the guerrilla leaders signed a peace agreement in London to end the seven‐year war and Britain’s new Governor, Lord Soames, lifted longstanding bans on their political parties.
The police declined to say who they believed was responsible for the attack on Mr. Mugabe’s former home, but his followers blamed his black political rivals in Rhodesia.
Police officials said three persons drove past the Mugabe home early today, raking the modest bungalow, now owned by the guerrilla leader’s 47-year-old sister Sabena, with three bursts of automatic weapons fire.
Grenade Fails to Explode
One of the attackers threw a grenade but it did not go off. The grenade was stamped with Russian lettering and the police said the attackers had used weapons made in Communist countries.
One of Mr. Mugabe’s nephews, Innocent Mugabe, 27, was injured by a bullet that grazed his cheek. Another, 12-year old Patrick Mugabe, was wounded in the leg. A third nephew, Robert Mugabe, 6, was in the back of a car when bullets hit the vehicle but he was unhurt.
Three weeks ago, a single shot was fired into the home of Cephas Msipa, Mr. Nkomo’s representative in Salisbury, without causing any injuries.
The incidents showed the perils facing the Patriotic Front leaders when they return to Salisbury for elections to be held early next year under the terms of the peace settlement.
The Mugabe bungalow was pocked with bullet holes, some only a few feet from where about 10 people had been sitting on a verandah. The driveway was spattered with blood.
Crowd Gathers at Nkomo Offices
In central Salisbury, about 300 supporters of Mr. Nkomo’s party, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union, gathered outside the organization’s offices and marched to the Harare district, singing nationalist songs. Heavily armed policemen in riot trucks ordered the demonstrators to disperse.
Following the cease‐fire and the lifting of the bans on the guerrillas’ political parties, passions have been running high in the townships where blacks are concentrated. Jubilant blacks sang and danced into the night as word of the cease‐fire spread.
There has been no announcement yet of when Mr. Nkomo and Mr. Mugabe will return from exile in Zambia and Mozambique.
Today’s incidents seemed clearly to foreshadow a violent election campaign.
Under the cease‐fire agreement a 1,200man Commonwealth force is to monitor the guerrilla forces in 16 assembly points while Rhodesian troops are confined to their bases.
A large airlift continued today with British and American military transport planes flying in equipment for the Commonwealth force. About 150 British soldiers have arrived so far and the rest, from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Kenya, are expected on Monday, a spokesman for the force said.
Under the cease‐fire plan, all hostilities are to be ended by next Friday and the guerrillas should be in their assembly points by Jan. 4.
United Press International
Outside the Salisbury offices of the Patriotic Front guerrilla alliance, Rhodesian nationalists celebrated the cease‐fire agreement. The references on the sign are to the Zimbabwe African People’s Union and to the Patriotic Front.|THIS DAY IN HISTORY.
