Officials in South African have said that five police officers and one off-duty soldier have been killed in an attack on a police station.
The attack on the Ngcobo police station between Mthatha and Queenstown in the Eastern Cape was carried out by a group of men.
News 24 reported that police officials said the unknown suspects entered the police station in the early hours of Wednesday morning firing randomly on officers on duty without warning.
A senior police official, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo is quoted as saying that “Three members were killed instantly in the community service centre. An off-duty soldier was also shot dead as the suspects were fleeing,”
“The suspects made off with a police van, taking two other members. The bodies of both these members with gunshot wounds, were later found along the roadside, six kilometres from the police station,” Naidoo added.
The police official further said that “According to preliminary investigations, it appears that [the] members were shot execution style.”
Meanwhile the Police commissioner General of South Africa, Khehla Sitole has said that top investigators have launched a probe into the murder of the five police officers and the soldier.
“I have activated a task team comprising experienced detectives of the South African Police Service and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation to investigate this attack,” Sitole said.
The police chief added that “We will not rest until we have tracked down these heartless killers and bring them to book”
South Africa’s Police Minister Fikile Mbalula condemned the attack, saying “These are very dangerous criminals. I urge people to remain vigilant and calm and report any possible suspicion to the police.”
Source: Africafeeds.com