Mozambique says two citizens killed in South Africa unrest

Mozambique said two of its citizens were killed and two others hospitalised after what it called xenophobic violence near Johannesburg, while South African police said they were investigating a deadly shooting and robbery and had not determined a motive.

The Mozambican government said late Thursday that a third person killed was South African. South African police said gunmen shot dead two men and a woman at an informal settlement before fleeing with cell phones and a tablet computer.

A police spokeswoman said the nationalities of the people involved were not yet known and that determining the motive was part of the investigation.

Mozambique said local authorities reported that 38 Mozambicans had been forced to leave their homes in the Germiston area after raids by anti-immigrant groups.

South Africa has seen weeks of protests and unrest targeting immigrants. Police say at least four foreigners have been killed, including two Mozambicans after a protest in Mossel Bay in late May. South African police have rejected reports from Nigeria and Ghana of three other deaths linked to the unrest, attributing them to the country's high crime rate.

Local media reported that homes of foreign nationals were vandalised and ransacked after a march in Germiston last week, and that shops run by foreigners had been looted. Security fears have prompted tens of thousands of people from other African countries to leave South Africa.