The US has imposed sanctions on two senior Zimbabwean politicians over human rights abuses.

The US treasury department accuses the security minister, Owen Ncube, of ordering the abduction and mistreatment of opposition supporters.

The former commander of an elite army unit, Anselem Sanyatwe, is accused of ordering troops to shoot protesters including an incident in 2018 when six supporters of the opposition MDC were shot dead.

Neither have commented on the allegations.

The two men are already barred from entering the US and will now have any US-based assets frozen.

The Treasury department said the Trump administration would hold accountable corrupt Zimbabwean elites for their repressive and violent rule.

"Today's sanctions make clear that the US will not tolerate the use [of] our financial system by human rights abusers in Zimbabwe", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Wednesday:

Silencing political opposition and civil society is unacceptable. Today’s @USTreasury sanctions against Anselem Sanyatwe and Owen Ncube make clear that the U.S. will not tolerate the use our financial system by human rights abusers in #Zimbabwe.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 11, 2020