The airstrip is not the only one in the area, however it is wider and longer than the existing ones, possibly to allow larger planes to land by the diamond fields. The newspaper further speculated that the airstrip will be used for offloading arms from China, which to be paid for with diamonds, but did not provide any sources to backs its arms for diamonds theory.
Aerial pictures published in The Telegraph show that construction work is well under way, with a newly built control tower apparently complete and the runway nearly ready for surfacing. The images also depict a tented army camp in the diamond fields, a violation of Zimbabwean court orders and of the Kimberley Process.
The Kimberley Process (KP) has been urged to suspend Zimbabwe over the many reported acts violence at the mines. At a meeting in Namibia in November, the KP decided to give Zimbabwe until June to implement a working plan that will bring it back into compliance.
According to human rights groups, some 200 independent miners were killed when soldiers seized control of the Chiadzwa area in November 2008.
