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JOHANNESBURG — 5 folks had been killed in an assault on a church west of Johannesburg within the early hours of Saturday, South African police mentioned, with a few of the attackers taking hostages who had been later freed.
Police arrested round 40 folks and seized 40 firearms, together with rifles, shotguns and handguns, associated to the assault on the Worldwide Pentecost Holiness Church in Zuurbekom, police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo informed the eNCA tv station.
Police earlier posted footage of a few of the confiscated weapons on Twitter, saying they had been coping with a “hostage scenario and taking pictures.”
One potential motive for the assault is an influence battle on the church between rival factions, native media reported.
“(E)verything was in full disarray, so we have now arrested all people who we fairly imagine are suspects, we’re busy interviewing and interrogating them to determine precisely what the motive was,” Naidoo informed eNCA. (Reporting by Alexander Successful and Lynette Ndabambi; Modifying by Toby Chopra)