The opposition Movement for a Democratic Change (MDC) accused the Zimbabwean government of “harassment” and “intimidation” following a raid on its offices on Thursday morning. Zimbabwe police raided a number of MDC offices, ostensibly searching for illegal weapons. Paramilitary police armed with automatic weapons blocked the entrances to the MDC headquarters just outside Harare, the party’s support centre in a shopping mall and in the township of St Martins. A search warrant signed by Chief Magistrate David Mangota granted the police permission to search for “arms of war — grenades, pistols, rifles, tearsmoke”. The search comes less than three days after a handgrenade attack on the MDC headquarters in Harare. MDC secretary- general Welshman Ncube said: “This is the beginning of an attempt to intimidate and harass the MDC. This is the most preposterous investigation I have ever heard of. The suggestion is that we will orchestrate the bombing of our own offices. It is utterly insane,” he said.