Mozambique: President warns of rebels infiltrated among displaced people

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Mozambique: President warns of rebels infiltrated among displaced people

3:40 CAT | 16 Aug 2022

President Nyusi was speaking at the inauguration of a National Institute of Social Security (INSS) building in Metuge, a district which hosts one of the main camps for people displaced by armed violence in Cabo Delgado. [Photo: Ministério do Trabalho e Segurança Social on Facebook]

President Filipe Nyusi yesterday called for vigilance in communities affected by armed violence in Cabo Delgado, warning about rebels infiltrating the population.

“We call for vigilance, because there are some who pass themselves as displaced […]. They pretend to be displaced people just to spy on us,” Filipe Nyusi said during the inauguration of a National Institute of Social Security (INSS) building in Metuge, a district which hosts one of the main camps for people displaced by armed violence in Cabo Delgado.

According to Filipe Nyusi, the Armed Forces of Defence and Security are attentive to the movements of rebels among displaced communities in various parts of Cabo Delgado province.

“Some, we have already caught and these, who were caught, have already said that they have other colleagues here […]. I am drawing attention [to this matter] and, if they are still here, we will catch these people,” the Mozambican head of state stressed.

Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique, is rich in natural gas, but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), about 784,000 persons have been internally displaced by the conflict, which has killed about 4,000, according to the ACLED conflict registry project.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops, with the support of Rwandan and later Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops, has recovered a number of areas from rebel control, but their flight has led to new attacks in districts through which they have passed or where they have taken up temporary refuge.

Source: Lusa