JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South African troops were patrolling the townships yesterday for the first time since apartheid as the authorities sought to end 10 days of xenophobic violence that has claimed 42 lives.

The army joined police to conduct three dawn raids in Johannesburg. Guns, ammunition, and drugs were seized and 28 people arrested.

A migrant worker from Mozambique was shot overnight and two buses burnt. Other incidents took place in the two provinces of Mpumalanga and North-West. Overall, however, the violence seems to have eased.

But 10 days of attacks targeted at foreign workers have left hundreds injured and forced thousands to flee their homes. Fear has spread among the millions of migrant workers in South Africa.

More than 30,000 are thought to have fled the country or be in the process of leaving. Buses full of refugees queued at the eastern Komatipoort border post with Mozambique as traumatized families, most with small bundles of possessions saved from arson attacks, tried to escape.

“I have been forced to leave behind my South African wife and my little children because I am not safe here any more,” Antonio Mwalenga said. “We lost our home and everything we owned. I had to watch as my best friend was killed.”

South Africa’s deputy director of migration, Leonardo Boby, said about 3,000 people had returned to Mozambique each day this week.