MUTARE – Two top MDC officials in Manicaland were abducted by soldiers on Tuesday night, taken to an army barrack and tortured before being dumped in the street on Wednesday, the party said.

Brothers Robert and Dunmore Saunyama were heavily assaulted in front of their families in Zimunya township after eight soldiers stormed their home.

Robert is the MDC district chairman for Mutare South, while his younger brother Dunmore is Chikanga-Dangamvura’s Ward 6 councillor.

The soldiers forced their way into Robert’s home as he was hosting his brother, who had arrived in the company of his wife and the wife of their other brother, Jericho.

Manicaland MDC spokesman Trevor Saruwaka said: “The soldiers arrived in an unmarked Toyota double cab truck. They were about eight, and heavily armed.

“The soldiers started assaulting the wives of the three brothers and their children. Councillor Danmore was also kicked and punched.

“All this was happening while four of the soldiers had their guns trained on Robert, threatening to shoot him should he attempt to fight them. The victims of this barbaric military brutality bled profusely and suffered various degrees of injuries.

“The soldiers then bundled the two brothers and took them away.”

MDC national spokesman Jacob Mafume said lawyers for the MDC had approached the police looking for the brothers but were advised that they were not in police custody.

Eventually, it emerged that the brothers were being held at 3 Infantry Brigade in Mutare.

“After an outcry on social media, once their location was known, their captors released them and they were found dumped. They had been badly beaten and have been taken to hospital,” Mafume said.

The abduction of the two officials was part of a continuing reign of terror by the military, ongoing since nationwide fuel protests on January 14, Saruwaka said. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said at the weekend he was proud of the operation by the military, which has left at least 17 people dead.

“Zimunya township has been a little hell since the stay-away disturbances. The residents have not known peace ever since,” Saruwaka told ZimLive.

‘What’s clear from this incident is that Zimbabwe is descending into a dark period of kidnappings, abductions, beatings and extrajudicial killings. The dark days of Gukurahundi and the 2008 election run-off killings are upon us once again. One cannot fail to link the threats against the opposition by Mnangagwa over the weekend in Mwenezi with this heinous operation. It’s clear the junta has stepped up the terror campaign against ordinary, peace-loving citizens.”

Early this month, Noah Sahumbe of Zimunya died at Parirenyatwa Hospital as a result of internal injuries sustained from a brutal assault by soldiers in Mutare.