   the gukurahundi (shona: "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains"nyarota, geoffrey. against the grain. page 134.) was the brutal suppression of zimbabwean civilians, mostly supporters of joshua nkomo, by zimbabwe's 5th brigade in the predominantly ndebele regions of zimbabwe. a few hundred disgruntled former zimbabwe people's revolutionary army (zipra) combatants waged armed banditry against the civilians in matabeleland, and destroyed government installations.breaking the silence, building true peace, catholic commission for justice and peace in zimbabwe the north-korean-trained fifth brigade executed an estimated 20,000 civilians. the violence ended after the zimbabwe african national union (zanu) and zimbabwe african people's union (zapu) reached a unity agreement on 22 december 1987 that merged the two parties to form one party known as zanu pf, with mugabe as leader of the party as well as of state and government as the new president of zimbabwe since 31 december 1987. ==background== 
1980s_conflicts Aftermath_of_the_Rhodesian_Bush_War Dirty_wars Disasters_in_Zimbabwe Extrajudicial_killings History_of_Zimbabwe Human_rights_in_Zimbabwe Mass_murder_in_1984 Military_operations_post-1945 Political_and_cultural_purges Politicides