THE Communist Party of Swaziland has reiterated calls for the creation of an armed people’s militia after security forces attacked three students, throwing them into a fire.

They were rushed to hospital after the incident on Friday, as police brutally put down protests calling for democracy in the authoritarian southern African nation.

One of the victims alleged that soldiers had dragged them out of a house, accusing the students of setting fire to tyres in the road in Mpaka, a rural town in eastern Swaziland.

The student said that they had not been part of the street demonstration.

“We were just relaxing in the house, charging our phones. The soldiers first assaulted us with sjamboks [whips] and kicked us all over the body before throwing us into the fire. We are badly burnt and scarred right now,” the young man added.

The authorities have launched a violent clampdown on the broad youth-led Democracy Now protests that have swept the country, with 70 people killed since June.

Demonstrators’ demands include the unbanning of political parties, and many are calling for the immediate resignation of absolutist monarch King Mswati III.

Communist Party general secretary Kenneth Kunene said the formation of community councils to defend the people has become a necessity.

“The autocracy’s security forces have never served the people. The task to form security councils all over the country is now an urgent one,” he insisted.