(Published On The 1st Of September 2022) (Edited On The 11th Of November 2022) Ethnic Tensions Have Boiled Over Once Again In Zimbabwe After Decades Of ZANU Rule

History is repeating itself in the Southern African Nation of Zimbabwe, after Rhodesian Nationalists and Anti-ZANU guerillas declared open war against the Communist regime in the country this afternoon.

Rhodesia first gained independence from the British Empire on the 11th of November 1965, via a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) under Colonial Governor turned Rhodesian President, Ian Douglas Smith, under a white-minority-rule system with limited representation being given to the black-minority Zimbabweans.

Between 1965 and 1980, both sides fought the Rhodesian Bush War which killed an estimated 25,000 people, with war crimes being committed by both sides.

The Rhodesian government led by Ian Douglas Smith was backed by South Africa's Apartheid regime, the Portuguese Empire, the United States, and France.

Whilst ZANU, ZPRA, and ZANLA commanded by Robert Mugabe were backed by the Soviet Union, Zambia, China, and Cuba.

In 1979 Rhodesia chose to elect it's first black President, Abel Muzorewa, but Mugabe's forces viewed him as nothing more as a Rhodesian puppet.

It wasn't until the start of 1980 that the British Empire, who long denied Rhodesia's legitimacy, retook control of their former colony and set up elections which Mugabe won by shady means, starting the rule of a dictator who murdered Rhodesians still living in the country and economically devastated the bread-basket of Africa until he was ousted following a coup by the Zimbabwe National Army in 2017.

Both Ian Douglas Smith and Robert Mugabe are no longer among the living, with Smith dying in exile in South Africa on the 20th of November 2007, and Robert Mugabe dying in a Singaporean hospital on the 6th of September 2019, but the legacies of both men continue to cast their shadows a dark shad across Southern Africa today.

The Zimbabwe government now led by Emmerson Mnangagwa denies any uprising or guerilla war is taking place, claiming it to be: "White supremacist propaganda".

But Mnangagwa himself has made reference to their being fighting taking place inside the country, stating: "There is defiantly a deep divide between the Rhodesians and Zimbabweans, but war isn't the way to solve these issues".

Mnangagwa made several concessions with Rhodesian leaders still in Zimbabwe, giving them reparations for White Genocide, giving the Rhodesian ethnic group Native African status, and giving a formal apology for Mugabe's reign of terror which saw 15,000 Rhodesians killed by ZANU extremists from 1981 until he was ousted in 2017.

But Rhodesian leaders insist that they want their country back, with the renewed conflict coming after plans to split Zimbabwe into two fell through in 2021.

Outgoing British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has refused to comment on the situation.