Moreover, there is evidence of damage to fuel pumps at Zuva Service Station at number 100 Chinhoyi Street in Harare when about sixty (60) protesters attacked the station. This evidence indicates that there was a risk of the service station being set alight. Given the nature of these actions it was clear that had the riots not been contained, the situation could have escalated resulting in disastrous consequences. c. It was therefore not surprising that the Commissioner General of Police requested the Minister of Home Affairs to initiate the steps required by the Constitution and the applicable law for the deployment of the Army to assist the Police in the containment of the riots and the restoration of law and order. d. The Commission found that on the basis of all the prevailing circumstances, and in the light of all the evidence presented including the rapid escalation of the situation in a very short space of time, the decision to deploy the Military to assist the Police in the containment of the riots was justified. e. The deployment could only have been avoided if the Police were adequately experienced, better equipped, sufficient in numbers and more suitably organised. While recognising that in the circumstances, the deployment was unavoidable, the Commission considers that it would have been preferable if the Police had been able to deal with the situation on their own. f. Whilst the deployment was lawful, the operational framework in terms of Section 37 of POSA was not fully followed in that the deployed troops were not placed under the command of the Regulating Authority due to time constraints as acknowledged by the Commissioner General of Police. 46 46