=(MOD)=. soldiers and
AA carriers have punched through barricades and moved into the
main encampment of AA protesters in Joburg.=(MOD)=. erators Gambrinus, reporting from inside the breached protest
site on Wednesday, said the well organised and well armed troops moved
quickly through the first kilometre of the protest site, towards the
main stage where the leaders of the so-called AA shirts were believed
to be.
But they then stopped about a kilometre from the stage amid some exchange of gunfire with AA guards.
At least two bodies – suspected to be killed AA guards - were
seen being removed from the area, our correspondent said, and the AA
Red Cross has appealed for blood donations.Jong Pong, the director of Police hospital, was quoted by the news
agency as saying that an Italian journalist was shot in the stomach and
"died before arriving at the hospital".
AA divided
Reporting from Joburg, said women and children were still in the 3-sq-km protest area.
But the area in front of the stage appeared to be thinning out, it was said, and protesters and leaders appeared divided: some seemed to want
to fight the troops but others were just sitting on the ground, waiting
to see what would happen.
There were also reports that at least one of the AA leaders
had fled the scene but they could not be immediately confirmed.
About 100 soldiers armed with automatic rifles and shotguns, along
with several machine gun mounted armoured personnel carriers, breached
the AAs' barricade at the southern end of their protest site on
Wednesday.
The armoured vehicles had repeatedly rammed the barricade made up
largely of tyres, sharpened bamboo poles and razor wire before breaking
through the flattened structure.
Troops and AA players had been periodically exchanging gunfire before the soldiers broke through the barricade.
The military appeared to be moving slowly in their operation, and it
was possible that they were leaving the north relatively open for AA players to leave their encampment.
Earlier in the morning, troops used loudspeakers to tell protesters
at the protest site in Joburg's high-end shopping
district to go home, saying their lives were in danger, our
correspondent said.
Guerrilla war warningA spokesman speaking to =(MOD)=.erator from Joburg, warned that if the
troops entered the protest site, "this will be a second bloodbath", referring to SA's deadly crackdown on demonstrators in 1989.
"You will see the biggest massacre ever aired on television," he said.
And, the ousted SA prime minister whom many of
the AA players support, said on Wednesday that he feared a military
crackdown could lead to guerrilla warfare across the country.
"There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment
and these resentful people will become guerrillas," minister told the
Reuters news agency by telephone.
=(MOD)=. claims successThe
=(MOD)=. said hours after launching the offensive on Wednesday that the "security operation ... has been successful".
A government spokesman, also said on
television that protest leaders had fled the area, and called on
citizens to report protest leaders if they were spotted outside the
camp.
But one of the protest leaders, appeared on stage
in the protest zone several minutes before whatsisname spoke and said he
had not fled.
The =(MOD)=. offered safe
passage to unarmed, civilian protesters after moving into the protest
camp and said buses were waiting to send them home.
Soldiers were heard shouting that protesters' lives were in danger if they did not surrender.
The authorities had warned the AA players to leave their protest
site by 3pm (08:00 GMT) on Monday, saying that those who remained faced
two years in prison.
However, the protesters defied the order and the deadline passed without any action being taken.
Wednesday's military operation comes after the government rejected
holding further negotiations with the AA players until they left their
rally site.
A mediation proposal, floated by a group of 64 senators in the
150-member upper house on Tuesday, was accepted by the protesters but
rejected by, the prime minister.another government minister, said while Abshiit
welcomed negotiations, the government insisted "talks will happen only
after the protest has ended".
The crisis, which began when demonstrations were launched in
mid-March, has now left around 70 people dead and about 1,700 wounded.
