Zimbabwe's army beat up and arrested illegal foreign currency traders in the streets of Harare on Monday, accusing them of causing the country's severe cash shortages, police said.
Soldiers clashed with dealers after the armed forces began rounding up currency traders in the capital, an AFP journalist said.
Police were called to break up the clash, which degenerated into a looting binge in several shops, in which soldiers were accused of participating.
The army and police refused to immediately comment.
Black market foreign currency peddling has become rampant in Zimbabwe as the country battles food and chronic currency shortages with inflation at a staggering 231 million percent.
Currency restrictions have led to long queues outside banks, with some depositors sleeping on the streets just to be at the front.
While the currency, once on a par with the British pound, is in freefall, unemployment is a staggering 80 percent.
In September, the reserve bank licensed some shops to sell goods in foreign currency in a bid to curb the burgeoning black market in basic commodities.
Zimbabwe is also facing a cholera epidemic which has killed more than 400 people.
