Mozambique: At least three killed in Chimbanga attack, Mocímboa da Praia district

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Mozambique: At least three killed in Chimbanga attack, Mocímboa da Praia district

3:57 CAT | 08 Jan 2024

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

Terrorists killed three people and destroyed homes on Friday (05-01)in the community of Chimbanga, less than 50 kilometres from the district headquarters town of Mocimboa da Praia.

At least three people died in a terrorist attack in the district of Mocimboa da Praia, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, near the headquarters town, the spokesperson for the Mocimbioa da Praia Municipal Counci Vlicente Alfandega told Lusa news agency on Saturday (06.01).

According to Vicente Alfandega, the latest attack took place on Friday, around 7:00 p.m. local time, in the community of Chimbanga, less than 50 kilometres from the district headquarters town of Mocimboa da Praia. At least three people were killed and several residences destroyed.

In addition to this attack, another group of terrorists, using canoes, arrived on Thursday on the island of Tembuze, also in Cabo Delgado, menacing fishermen and looing commercial products and other goods from residents.

“They didn’t kill there, they just looted goods, food, drinks. Everything that was of commercial value for someone to make a living or return,” a spokesperson for the municipal council Vicente Alfandega reported.

“A setback”

The attacks on Mocimboa da Praia and other parts of Cabo Delgado take place at a time when populations are engaged in seasonal food production, activity threatened by these attacks.

“That is the guarantee […] that by next year we would be less dependent. Now, with this situation of unrest, it is a setback,” Alfandega concluded.

Last Wednesday, armed groups once again attacked the district of Mocímboa da Praia, in the community of Ntótwé, just a few kilometres from Awasse, where Rwandan forces supporting Mozambique in the fight against rebel groups in Cabo Delgado have a garrison.

The Ntotwe attack caused an as yet undetermined number of deaths, according to sources on the ground. “They raided stores, took products and other goods from the population and fled. So far I have no information about deaths,” a local resident who took refuge in the Awasse administrative post told Lusa.

People on the run

The latest rebel incursion caused people from Ntótwé to flee to the administrative post of Awasse, although it drew an immediate response from Mozambican and Rwandan forces in the vicinity.

The village of Ntótwé is just over 100 kilometres from Mocímboa da Praia on National Road Number 380, one of the few paved roads in the region, which connects to the northernmost districts of Cabo Delgado, where the Rovuma gas projects are situated.

The district of Mocímboa da Praia, in the north of Cabo Delgado, was the terrorists’ first target, on October 5, 2017, with the insurgents later attacking other parts of the province.

Almost the entire population of around 62,000 people abandoned the coastal town following the intensification of insurgent actions in June 2020.

#Mozambique
Reports indicating recent incidents:
1) 02/01/2024: Insurgents, using 2 boats attacked the fishing community on Nhonga (Mionga) Island, some 15km southeast of MdP;
2) 03/01/2024: Insurgents attacked a FADM deployment at Ntotwe, located about 30 km west of MdP. https://t.co/PMSOrhHepC

— Jasmine Opperman (@Jasminechic00) January 4, 2024