Seven suspects accused of killing South African police have been shot dead in a gunfight at a church, police say.<\/p>\n
Those killed in the shoot-out are thought to be part of\u00a0the armed gang that killed six in a raid on a police station in the country’s Eastern Cape province on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ten suspects were also arrested at the church in Nyanga village, while others escaped, investigators said.<\/p>\n
Police say the gang were cornered as they hid in the church.<\/p>\n
National police commissioner Khehla John Sitole told a crowd outside the church on Saturday that\u00a0the police were determined to bring the alleged police attackers to justice.<\/p>\n
“We made a decision that this is not going to happen in South Africa where the state will be undermined by criminals,” he said, according to African outlet News24.<\/p>\n
Mr Sitole said police had confiscated firearms stolen in the police station raid and were still hunting other suspects that fled the church shoot-out.<\/p>\n
A police spokesperson had earlier said the church grounds were home to at least 100 women and children, who were not caught up in the crossfire.<\/p>\n
Dozens of police are killed each year in South Africa but Wednesday’s attack on a police station sparked national outrage.<\/p>\n
The armed robbers that burst into the police station near Mthatha opened fire on officers on duty, killing three instantly.<\/p>\n
An off-duty soldier was shot as the assailants fled, and the bodies of two other officers, taken hostage, were later found shot “execution style”, according to a government statement.<\/p>\n
The authorities said that the motives for the police raid were unknown, but that the gang was believed to have robbed a cash machine shortly before the attack, and then stolen 10 firearms and a police van.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seven suspects accused of killing South African police have been shot dead in a gunfight at a church, police say. Those killed in the shoot-out are thought to be part of\u00a0the armed gang that killed six in a raid on a police station in the country’s Eastern Cape province on Wednesday. Ten suspects were also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":404313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[17364,481],"yoast_head":"\n