Synopsis
The diamond fields of Chiadzwa, among the world's largest sources of rough diamonds have been at the centre of struggles for power in Zimbabwe since their discovery in 2006. Against the backdrop of a turbulent political economy, control of Chiadzwa's diamonds was hotly contested. By 2007 a new case of "blood diamonds" had emerged, in which the country's security forces engaged with informal miners and black market dealers in the exploitation of rough diamonds, violently disrupting local communities and looting a key national resource.
