Three foreign nationals killed in S.Africa 'revenge attacks'

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South African police deployed reinforcements Monday to a farming area where community members killed three foreign nationals in random revenge attacks after the murder of a local man in a bar fight.

Specialised units were sent to the Valencia citrus-growing area in the Eastern Cape province after the spate of attacks on Sunday and Monday, provincial police said in a statement.

"It is believed that these unlawful acts of revenge attacks began with an incident in which a local resident was allegedly murdered following a fight between a group of local residents and foreign nationals outside a tavern on Saturday," it said.

Afterwards, community members "took to the streets and reportedly attacked foreign nationals," it said, adding the attacks were carried out "randomly".

Besides the death of the young South African, "The incident has claimed three lives, and left at least ten people injured," the statement said.

Police would not give the nationalities of the foreign nationals targeted in the violence but several local media reported they were Zimbabweans.

"We can't assume that they are coming from a certain country," police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli told AFP.

The Daily Maverick news site reported that thousands of foreigners were in the area, near Addo about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Indian Ocean city of Gqeberha, for the citrus-picking season.

More than 100 had taken shelter in a local police station, it said.

Southern Africa's strongest economy draws thousands of foreign nationals seeking work who are regularly targeted with xenophobic harassment, discrimination and even violence.