South Africa: No reports of immigrant violence overnight

Hundreds of candles are lit during a silent vigil outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. The vigil was held in an effort to take a stand against the ongoing immigrant attacks in South Africa as the army has been deployed to areas that remain volatile after a spate of attacks targeting foreign nationals. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell) Hundreds of candles are lit during a silent vigil outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. The vigil was held in an effort to take a stand against the ongoing immigrant attacks in South Africa as the army has been deployed to areas that remain volatile after a spate of attacks targeting foreign nationals. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

By Associated Press April 22, 2015 2 min read

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – Police and soldiers raided a hostel considered a hotspot for anti-immigrant attacks as South Africa continued a crackdown on the violence, police said Wednesday.

Police, accompanied by the South African military, arrested 11 men on Tuesday night in a bid to snuff out any further unrest, said police spokesman Lt. Kay Makhubela.

The residents of the dilapidated block in downtown Johannesburg were believed to have looted foreign-owned shops in recent weeks, Makhubela said. Police met no resistance as they seized stolen goods and bags of marijuana, the spokesman said.

No new incidents of violence targeting foreigners were reported overnight in Johannesburg or in the coastal city of Durban, where the attacks began, police said.

At the University of Witwatersrand, about 2,000 students demonstrated against the violence, according to student organizers. Elsewhere in Johannesburg, hundreds of people held a candlelit vigil on Tuesday evening and called for an end to the violence.