Harare/Johannesburg  - Rioting broke out in central Harare late Monday as mobs of uniformed but unarmed soldiers followed by hundreds of civilians went on the rampage, eyewitnesses said.

Several shots were fired as authorities deployed a large force of heavily armed troops and riot police, and one man was reported shot. It was not known whether the shooting was fatal.

Panic ensued as vehicles were stoned, shop windows smashed and looted as the mobs - some of them waving the open hand salute of the country's pro-democracy Movement for Democratic Change - whistled and danced through the city centre.

The force of anti-riot police was swiftly deployed and the mobs dispersed, leaving bricks and stones littering the road.

The witnesses said the violence broke out when soldiers waiting in bank queues became angry over the failure of the banks to provide them with cash.

It was the first time that rioting has erupted in Harare since sharp rises in the prices of basic commodities 10 years ago, but observers say it is highly significant that the unrest was led by rank and file members of army, hitherto regarded as loyal to 84-year- old President Robert Mugabe. (dpa)