South Africa Deploys 25,000 Troops To Quell Rioting, At Least 117 Dead

Weeklong riots were sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for refusing to comply with an investigation into alleged corruption.

South Africa's army began deploying 25,000 troops Thursday to assist police in quelling weeklong riots sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma. At least 117 people have been killed in the violence, authorities said. In one of the largest deployments of soldiers since the end of white minority rule in 1994, the government said 10,000 soldiers were on the streets by Thursday morning and the South African National Defence Force has also called up all of its reserve force of 12,000 troops. In a show of force, a convoy of more than a dozen armored personnel carriers brought soldiers Thursday into Gauteng province, South Africa's most populous, which includes the largest city, Johannesburg, and the capital, Pretoria.