Ekona: Five killed as military raids drug consumption hideout.

According to reports, the raid was carried out Saturday 24 June.

It was gathered that soldiers stormed a structure hosting some youth allegedly involved in the consumption of hard drugs.

The raid, The Guardian Post gathered, resulted in the killing of five civilians.

The youth were said to be consuming marijuana, when the soldiers stormed the area. 

It has not yet been ascertained what prompted the military raid.

However, a resident of the area, who spoke to The Guardian Post, but pleaded not to be identified for security reasons, said the victims were not separatist fighters. 

"These are boys between 16-20 years who smoke marijuana and then get into farms and steal. There were not separatist fighters. The military came and killed all of them," said our source.

Meanwhile, during the raid, several structures, including shops, were burnt down.

"The shop that was burnt belonged to someone the military believed sold items to separatist fighters. The shop was burnt to ashes and the owner beaten by the defence and security forces," our source added.

Some of the denizens of the area, speaking to this reporter, expressed relief, following the killing of the drug addicts, due to the crimes they committed in the community.

"The community is relieved because after smoking, they did a lot of terrible things. The military got the information that they always gathered at ‘Last Town,’ to smoke, so they came and attacked the area", continued the source.

"There was never a confrontation in the area. The boys were in one house at 'Last Town,' where they usually congregate to smoke marijuana. The defence and security forces surrounded the house and killed all the occupants", the source recounted.