The head of Zimbabwe’s air force, a close ally of President Robert Mugabe, was shot and wounded in an assassination attempt at the weekend, state media said on Tuesday.

The shooting of Air Marshal Perence Shiri on Saturday appeared to be part of attacks against high profile figures designed to destabilize the country, Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi was quoted in the Herald newspaper as saying.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses Shiri and other commanders of leading a violent election run-off campaign in June that prompted party leader Morgan Tsvangirai to boycott the vote, in which Mugabe was re-elected unopposed.

Shiri was shot on the way to his farm, which was seized from a white farmer in 2000 in a campaign condemned by Mugabe’s Western critics. He escaped with a gunshot wound and is recovering at a Harare hospital.

“The attack on Air Marshal Shiri appears to be a build-up of terror attacks targeting high profile persons, government officials, government establishments and public transportation systems,” Mohadi was quoted as saying.

Zimbabwe has accused neighboring Botswana of training opposition insurgents to topple Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980. It also says Western states, calling on Mugabe step down amid a deepening humanitarian crisis, are plotting against him.

MDC officials were not immediately available to comment on the report of the attack on Shiri. Both Botswana and the MDC have denied the accusation that insurgents are being trained there.

Dozens of MDC members have been arrested on terror charges but have been cleared by the courts.

The MDC says Mugabe uses such charges when under pressure, especially from Western foes who are calling on him to step down over a humanitarian crisis and economic meltdown.

(Source)