National Defense students in Portugal praise Mozambican military officer killed in combat

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National Defense students in Portugal praise Mozambican military officer killed in combat

4:21 CAT | 02 Jul 2020

Picture: Visao Moçambique

Students from the National Defense Institute of Portugal, former colleagues of the Mozambican commander killed in combat in Mocímboa da Praia, praised the profile of Horácio Charles, victim of a “terrorist group” that causes “instability” in northern Mozambique.

Commander Charles, as a marine, was not selfless in the face of adversity and, on the 27th of June, dignified his beret in an extreme way, sacrificing his life for the defence of all his Mozambican citizens and the values of a people in the face of the illegality of a terrorist group that tries, at all costs, the instability of a sovereign and independent country “, wrote colleagues from the 2016-17 course in two letters sent to the Mozambican embassy in Lisbon and to the defence attaché of Portugal in Maputo.

The military “was, together with his comrades who fell in combat, a worthy representative of the uprightness and honour of the Mozambican people”, said the students.

In the letters, in which they send their condolences to the family, the authors express “deep sadness and dismay” at the “early disappearance, in combat” of the military, who is remembered as “well-disposed, attentive, affable and correct”.

The commander of the Mozambican Armed Defense Forces (FADM) unit deployed in the town of Mocímboa da Praia died in combat during Saturday’s attack on the town by a rebel armed group.

The bodies of the soldiers affected in the clashes were taken on a ship from Mocímboa da Praia to the city of Pemba, capital of the province of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, from where they flew to Maputo.

Before being placed in Mocímboa da Praia, Horácio Arósio Charles was one of the commanders of the FADM unit that guarantees the protection of the facilities of natural gas companies in the Palma district of Cabo Delgado.

Military sources told Lusa that the FDS controls thetown, but there are foci of attackers’ presence nearby.

Mocímboa da Praia had already been invaded and occupied by rebels for one day, on March 23, in an action later claimed by the Islamic State ‘jihadist’ group.

Saturday’s clash was the biggest reported in Cabo Delgado since the occupation by insurgents of the town of Macomia, between 28 and 30 May, and consequent confrontation with the Mozambican FDS.

Mocímboa da Praia is one of the main towns in the province, located 70 kilometres south of the construction area of the natural gas exploration project conducted by several international oil companies and led by Total.

The armed violence of the past two and a half years has already caused the death of at least 700 people and a humanitarian crisis that affects about 211,000 residents.

The United Nations launched, in early June, a $ 35 million (€ 30 million) appeal to the international community for a Rapid Response Plan for Cabo Delgado to be implemented from May to December.

Source: Lusa