CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Eight gunmen with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire at patrons at a bar in the first of two separate mass shootings in South African townships in the space of a few hours that left at least 27 people dead, police said Sunday.

The first massacre occurred late Saturday night near Johannesburg. The second happened in the early hours of Sunday near Cape Town. No arrests had been made in the two shootings, which came just five days after another mass shooting in a township near the city of Durban killed at least 11 people.

The South African Police Service said 17 people were killed Saturday night when eight suspects armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, southwest of South Africa’s biggest city of Johannesburg, around 9.30 p.m.

The suspects shot at patrons outside the bar, then moved inside to continue the killing. The victims included 13 men and four women. At least 15 others sustained gunshot injuries, according to police, who said the gunmen searched some of the patrons and took their mobile phones before escaping in two vehicles.

Around four hours later, 10 people were killed and 11 were wounded in a mass shooting after 1 a.m. at a store in Lwandle township near Cape Town, South Africa’s second biggest city. Police said they were searching for multiple suspects, though they didn’t give an exact number.

On Tuesday night, 11 people were killed, including a pregnant woman, in an attack by multiple gunmen at a house party in KwaMakhutha township south of Durban. Police have not reported any arrests.

South Africa has struggled with high rates of violent crime for years, but the series of mass shootings this week were shocking even to a country used to some of the highest homicide rates in the world.

A high rate of killings is a longstanding problem for Africa’s most advanced economy, but the phenomenon of mass shootings is becoming more common, according to experts, with recent killings often being carried out by multiple gunmen.

The homicides mostly affect South Africa’s poorest communities and police have linked some to criminal gangs.

Other recent mass shootings include one in June in a poor neighborhood of Johannesburg that killed 12 people, and two in the space of two weeks in December that left a total of 21 people dead.

South Africa’s violent crime problem prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy soldiers on the streets in March in a yearlong operation to combat crime in some of the country’s worst-affected areas. The deployment included high-crime areas around Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as other areas.

Announcing the deployment, Ramaphosa said crime by organized gangs was the biggest threat to South Africa’s democracy and economic development. Some critics viewed the use of soldiers on the streets as an admission that police were failing.

There were 5,427 homicides in South Africa in the latest three-month period between April and June at an average of nearly 60 homicides a day, according to official police statistics.

Shootings are the most common form of homicide in South Africa and police and crime experts have long said one of the biggest problems is a high number of illegal firearms in circulation.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa