Bandits attack on Niassa road

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Bandits attack on Niassa road

3:47 CAT | 28 Jan 2019

In file CoM

Five hooded gunmen attacked a passenger vehicle in the northern Mozambican province of Niassa on Wednesday, according to a report in Friday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.

The ambush occurred in the locality of Muoco, on the road between the districts of Maua and Cuamba. This is same spot as the site of an ambush in July 2018. The criminals who carried out that attack have never been caught.

The gang that struck on Wednesday was carrying at least two AK-47 assault rifles, as well as machetes and axes.

The assailants first fired into the air, forcing the driver of the mini-bus to stop. Then they started to beat the passengers, demanding that they hand over their cell phones and their money. Four people were injured in the attack, one of them seriously, and they were taken for medical treatment at the Maua Rural Hospital.

The passengers reported that the gang had stolen eight cell phones and about 2,000 meticais (33 US dollars) in cash.

Alves Mathe, the spokesperson for the Niassa Provincial Police Command, told reporters the police are doing all in their power to pursue and detain the gang. “It’s a question of time”, he said. “We shall find them”.

He added that the police are already installing a police post in Muoco to guarantee security in the area. “We are asking the local people to believe in us and collaborate in what we are doing”, he said.

Mathe believed this was not the same group who had carried out the ambush in July. He did not see any political significance in the attack. “These individuals are no more than common bandits who are trying to create panic on the road and that region”, he said.

There is, so far, no evidence to connect this ambush with the terrorist attacks, believed to be inspired by Islamic fundamentalism, in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado.

Source: AIM