HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Police and troops fired tear gas and performed house-to-house searches on Wednesday, trucking away suspected protesters in the third day of riots sparked by rising food prices.
Police skirmished with protesters in impoverished townships of Harare, the capital, and then moved to flush out the demonstrators, angry over last week's price increases of up to 30 percent for food, bread, sugar and soft drinks.
The Roman Catholic Justice and Peace Commission said soldiers in eastern Harare rounded up suspected demonstrators, dragging some from their homes.
"They are going from house to house, getting hold of young men or women who could be possible demonstrators and either drive them off somewhere or beat them there," said Tarcisius Zimbiti, head of the commission.
Witnesses in two western townships said police and army patrols forced their way into homes and beat residents with batons and riot sticks.
Police fired tear gas and stopped vans ferrying commuters from one township into the center of Harare, said Robert Manase, a market vendor.
The price increases came as Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980, with inflation at a record 70 percent and unemployment above 50 percent.
