Mozambique: Deadly attack on minibus in Niassa not insurgent related – police

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Mozambique: Deadly attack on minibus in Niassa not insurgent related – police

11:31 CAT | 01 Feb 2022

Photo: Miramar

The attack on a minibus carrying 17 passengers in Niassa, northern Mozambique, on Friday (28-01), is not related to insurgent groups, according to Alves Mate, a PRM spokesman in Niassa.

“It is not related to that [the insurgency] – they are common criminals,” Mate said when asked if was any sign linking the event, which caused one death, to violence originating in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado.

After the attack, the two hooded men stole what goods they could from the vehicle and left it abandoned on the road, he said.

“We have expanded the perimeter and the search (to find the perpetrators and the weapons used – an AK47 machine gun and a machete) continues,” Mate added.

Barricade on public road

The attackers “barricaded the road, but the driver, as he approached, noticed the pair’s strange behaviour. He slowed down and tried to turn around,” Mate continued. “But the bandits opened fire, hitting the driver, who lost his life on the spot.”

The 17 passengers travelling in the minibus “opened the door and fled into the woods”, he said.

Two passengers were injured. One, a woman, was shot in the leg, and a man suffered a machete blow to the head. Both were hospitalised and are now out of danger.

The vehicle, which had left Marrupa for Ancuabe, in Cabo Delgado, was attacked near Muoco, a village in Máua district.

Source: Deutsche Welle