HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?

Thousands held in Zimbabwe blitz.

Thousands have been left homeless. More than 22,000 people have been arrested in the recent crackdown on Zimbabwe's shantytowns, a police spokesman has told state media. He said some of those made homeless when their shacks were demolished in the capital, Harare, were being sent back to their rural homes. Residents and riot police clashed overnight in the second city, Bulawayo. Meanwhile, the head of the World Food Programme has discussed Zimbabwe's food needs with President Robert Mugabe. Millions of people are suffering from food shortages and Mr Mugabe told James Morris he would "welcome" food aid, Mr Morris said.
Fuel shortages make it difficult for people to leave the cities Last year, Mr Mugabe asked the WFP to scale down its operations, saying Zimbabweans had so much food, "they were choking".
Mr Mugabe's critics say the shortages have been caused by his seizure of white-owned land.
He denies this, blaming the weather and a Western plot to remove him from power. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said that the crackdown had created overnight, "a massive internal refugee population in its urban areas."
"Property worth millions of dollars has gone up in flames. Families are out in the open - without jobs, without income, without shelter without support," said the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, which gets most of its support from urban areas. The government says it is trying to reduce crime and clean up the Zimbabwe's cities. Market vendors and local residents fought with police for more than two hours in Bulawayo's Makholkhoba suburb on Tuesday night, after their stalls had been demolished. Scores of people were injured. The crackdown on illegal settlements in Harare and other cities has led to a huge increase in rents of up to 300%, reports the state-run Herald newspaper.
Market stalls have been set on fire and shacks knocked down with sledgehammers. "We have so far arrested a total of 22,735 people and recovered 33.5kg of gold from 47 illegal gold panners and 26,000 litres of fuel," said Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena. Hundreds of thousands of people are reported to be homeless following a police operation in several cities that began last week. But fuel shortages are making it difficult for people to travel to rural areas and escape the crackdown.
The National Pastors' Conference called on the government to "engage in a war against poverty and not against the poor".