Mozambique: People posing as rebels looting villages in Cabo Delgado – police

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Mozambique: People posing as rebels looting villages in Cabo Delgado – police

7:09 CAT | 05 Sep 2022

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

People are posing as terrorists to scare away the population and loot villages in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, the provincial police commander said on Monday.

“There are opportunistic individuals who pretend to be terrorists and set fire to houses to scare people away so they can steal”, said Vicente Chicote, at a ceremony to promote agents.

The most recent case took place on Sunday, in the attack on a village in Ancuabe, whose population was put to flight.

READ: Mozambique: Terrorists strike in Ancuabe and Chiúre districts – AIM

Some residents stayed behind to try to find the perpetrators of the attack and grabbed the son of a family in the village, and four others were also recognised, but fled.

“They don’t deserve that we get scared, not even a little bit”, said the commander, admitting one day to publish photographs.

The case was chosen to illustrate the diversity of threats that agents will face in Cabo Delgado, demanding more rigor in police action.

“We have been witnessing some acts of indiscipline that are not compatible with the behaviour of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique”, he said, asking for a “new dynamism”.

In June, the Minister of the Interior, Arsénia Massingue, criticised the actions of several agents, denouncing that some inform the enemy, by listing a set of “deviations” that she wants to see eradicated from the corporation.

The statements come at a time when the military offensive near the area destined for gas projects has pushed armed groups to the south of the province.

A source residing in the village of Chachacha, district of Meluco, reported today that on Sunday three bodies were discovered with signs of violence along the Messalo River.

Four days earlier, villagers discovered in the middle of the bush the body of an elderly woman who apparently died of hunger while hiding from the attacks.

A source from the local forces reported an ambush by the militias against an armed group on Friday, further north, in the village of Nova Família, district of Muidumbe.

READ: Mozambique: Three armed men kill member of local force, set fire to houses in Nova Família, Muidumbe – Lusa report

In the operation, two alleged rebels were shot down and buried, without being recognised by the population.

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

The insurgency led to a military response a year ago by Rwandan and Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces, liberating districts next to the gas projects, but leading to a new wave of attacks in other areas, closer to Pemba. , provincial capital.

There are about 800,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registry project.

It is estimated that half of the affected population are children and young people up to the age of 20, reflecting the country’s age pyramid.

Source: Lusa