Eighteen people were killed by police in a shootout in South Africa’s northeastern Limpopo province on Friday. Police said they were targeting suspects who wanted to attack a cash-in-transit vehicle.
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“As soon as the police approached, the group of suspects started shooting and the police responded. Sixteen men and two women died at the scene,” South African police said in a statement.
A police officer was “very seriously injured,” Fannie Masemola, police commissioner in Makhado in Limpopo province, about 430 km northeast of Johannesburg, told reporters.
The shooting lasted an hour and a half, she said.
According to the police, who had been monitoring the movements of the suspects for several days, investigations were launched in January with the help of the secret services.
“Our intention was to stop them before they committed their crime,” she said.
Last year, ten suspects were killed trying to seize an armored vehicle after they shot at a police helicopter, injuring the pilot, prompting a police response.
In May, Police Minister Bheki Cele mentioned a 20% increase in attacks on cash vehicles, with 64 cases recorded in the first three months of the year.
Crime statistics, presented quarterly by the minister on live television, have skyrocketed in recent months in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world.