Mozambique: Rebels launch further attacks near gas megaprojects

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Rebels launch further attacks near gas megaprojects

4:34 CAT | 29 Dec 2020

Map: BBC

Rebel groups in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, on Tuesday carried out two simultaneous attacks in Palma district, one of which was in the vicinity of natural gas megaprojects in Afungi, local sources told Lusa.

According to one resident of Palma, the attacks took place at around 5 am (3 am in Lisbon) and were aimed at the headquarters of Olumbi Administrative Post and the town of Monjane, the latter less than 10 kilometres from construction work on the gas megaprojects led by France’s Total in northern Mozambique.

Also read: Mozambique: Total oil in permanent contact with government after latest attack

During the incursion, there were major clashes with the Defence and Security Forces, which remain in large numbers in the region, the resident said, adding that, as a result of the attack, access to the region is limited and the Defence and Security Forces remain in the region.

“We do not know if there were deaths or injuries in either attack, but what is clear is that now it is very difficult to enter or leave Afungi,” said the source in Palma, a coastal village adjacent to the megaproject.

Also read: Mozambique Troops fight off attack near $20 billion LNG project

An employee of a company subcontracted by Total that is in Afungi told Lusa that the workers were advised not to leave the enclosure where they live.

“We have been instructed not to leave the enclosure and indeed there have been almost no cars entering Afungi since this morning,” said the official, who added that the activities of the protector that are taking place on the perimeter near Monjane are temporarily paralysed.

This is the second attack close to the gas megaprojects this month, after a first one that took place on 7 December in the village of Mute, less than 25 kilometres from the area where the natural gas processing industrial zone in Area 1 of the Rovuma basin is being built.

The project, led by Total, is the largest private investment in Africa, in the order of €20 billion.

Today’s latest attacks come one day after Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi asked the Defence and Security Forces for “maximum readiness” in the face of the “silence of the enemy”, after “successful” operations by government forces in Macomia, another district of Cabo Delgado that has been frequently affected by rebel incursions.

Also read: Mozambique: President calls for ‘maximum readiness’ in the face of ‘enemy silence’ in Cabo Delgado

According to official figures, at least 37 insurgents were shot down and 27 weapons seized during the operations in Macomia, in operations carried out by the 7th Defence and Security Forces battalion stationed in the region.

The armed violence in Cabo Delgado began three years ago and is causing a humanitarian crisis with more than 2,000 deaths and 560,000 displaced people, without housing or food, mainly concentrated in the provincial capital, Pemba.

Some of the incursions have been claimed by the ‘jihadist’ Islamic state group since 2019.

Source: Lusa