The troops entered the bars armed with sjamboks, a type of government-issue whip made from hippopotamus hide, and began beating bar patrons. They also set attack dogs loose on people in several of the bars.

There was no official comment from either the military or local police about the incidents, but it comes as President Robert Mugabe is talking about holding elections next year to ensure Zanu PF has a stronger majority in Congress.

This might suggest that the violence is part of the long-standing regime strategy of savagely and arbitrarily attacking Zimbabwe’s voters in the run-up to the election, assuming that it will scare them into voting for the regime. In the past this has proven to be a relatively effective strategy, though lingering anger about the violence must inevitably produce a backlash.

The fresh approach seems anything but: aides say the strategy will be to take Zimbabwe to the United Nations Security Council to pass a series of strong sanctions against them, including a ban on foreign investment. The United States has taken similar steps against Iran, pre-invasion Iraq, and a myriad of other nations it has decided to undermine.

Though the Mugabe regime has been in power for nearly 30 years, the latest impetus for the US to force them from office came in June, when Mugabe won a very dubious run-off election over rival Morgan Tsvangirai. The two parties have engaged in power sharing talks in recent days: the opposition has sent conflicting messages on the results. Officially today the party has both confirmed a power-sharing deal and said it was far away from agreeing to the terms.