Zimbabweans votes in key referendum, as tensions rise

Zimbabweans start voting in a key referendum on a new constitution, amid simmering political tensions.

Both main parties - Zanu-PF and the MDC - are urging their supporters to back the constitution, which would pave way for new elections later this year.

The polls could end a shaky power-sharing deal between the rival parties following a disputed vote in 2008.

Campaigning for the referendum was marred by an attack on an MDC politician in the capital, Harare.

Sten Zvorwadza, who hopes to become the next Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lawmaker for the city's Mbare suburb, was punched as he tried to put up posters on Friday.

On Tuesday, a Zanu-PF official was injured after his house was petrol-bombed by unknown assailants in Makoni district, in north-eastern Zimbabwe.

And in February, the 12-year-old son of an MDC activist died in an alleged arson attack in the eastern farming district of Headlands.