S.African army kills man during anti-immigrant unrest

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — South African troops have killed a man in a Johannesburg township during operations to quell anti-immigrant violence, the army said Saturday, as they deployed on the streets for the first time since apartheid.

"We unfortunately had an incident where a member of the public was shot when he pointed a firearm at a soldier. He was shot dead," army spokesman General Kwena Mangope told AFP, adding that the death occurred on Friday evening.

Soldiers were sent on to Johannesburg's streets on Thursday for the first time since the end of white rule in 1994 in a bid to help stem a tide of violence that has seen mobs of armed youths attack foreigners.

At least 42 have been killed, more than 500 arrested and 17,000 displaced since the unrest broke...