JOHANSBURG, Reuter: South Africa police said today that they had shot dead four alleged black guerrillas in a clash in eastern Transvaal province near the Swaziland border.
A police spokesman said a fifth member of the band was injuring the shootout last night and was arrested.
He said police later discovered arms and ammunition of Russian origin, including a rocket launcher, assault rifles and mines.
It was the latest incident involving black guerrillas apparently trying to infiltrate South Africa’s borders with neighboring black ruled states. Pretoria has often warned countries like Zimbabwe, Botswana and Swaziland that it would retaliate for guerrilla assaults originating in their territory.
South Africa’s security forces have several times raided alleged facilities of the African National Congress (ANC) across its frontiers, provoking international condemnation.
The ANC is the largest guerrilla group fighting for black majority rule in Pretoria to replace white domination and the apartheid policy of race discrimination.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 22, 1986
