Eswatini threatens force on 'terrorist' protesters

The prime minister of Africa's last absolute monarchy says his government will not hesitate to use force against "terrorists" to defend national security, a year after youth-led pro-democracy protests rocked the country.

In recent weeks the opposition group Swaziland International Solidarity Forces (SISF) has been accused of targeting members of the security forces as a form of protest against the arrest of pro-democracy demonstrators last year.

Those attacks have been called "brutal crimes that are being committed under the pretext of pursuing democracy," by Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini.

"The government commits to every citizen that it is deploying all its assets internally as well as regionally to hunt down these terrorists and bring them to book while exposing their enablers," Mr Dlamini said in the same statement.

Mr Dlamini's comments come about three weeks after the government barred people who have taken part in pro-democracy protests from joining the army.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Eswatini Government/Twitter