HUNDREDS of engineers and technicians employed by Zimbabwe’s state-owned Posts and Telecommunications Corporation have been fired for going on strike, the corporation announced on Friday. Postmaster-General Sizo Mhlanga accused the workers of having sabotaged equipment since the strike began on Tuesday, and said the mass sacking was aimed at preventing further destruction of property. The strike has been a huge embarrassment for the government, knocking out all telecommunications links for hundreds of foreign exhibitors at the country’s premier industrial showcase — the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. Mhlanga said the strike amounts to unpatriotic action on the part of a small number of well-paid people in secure jobs at a time of economic hardship for most Zimbabweans.