The army quickly put down an attempted coup Saturday by an officer and a group of rebellious soldiers who acted after five days of anti-government rioting. Three people were reported killed.
Soldiers captured the army lieutenant after he announced on state radio that President Kenneth Kaunda had been toppled. The radio said later the claim was made by a "confused person."During the attempted coup, an army troop carrier crowded with armed soldiers cruised the poor suburban township of Mutendere and declared through a bullhorn, "We have a new president," residents told The Associated Press.
Loyalist soldiers guarding Kaunda's State House on Independence Avenue fired shots at civilians who celebtated the coup attempt near the main gates, witnesses said. Three bodies of people in civilian clothes, with gunshot wounds, were spotted by Western diplomats.
Authorities did not confirm any casualties.
The south-central African nation was hit last week by its worst urban violence since independence. At least 23 people were slain in clashes with paramilitary police and soldiers.
Student-led riots began Monday after the government more than doubled the price of corn meal, Zambia's staple food, from $2.79 per 55-pound bag to $6.56. The protesters also demanded an end to one-party rule in Zambia.
Paramilitary police reinforced the guards at Kaunda's official residence, but he was not in the city at the time.
He was in Zambia's central Copperbelt province city of Ndola, where he praised his troops, denounced "coup plotters" and declared, "Those who rise by the sword will perish by the sword."