Mozambique: Three suspected terrorists captured by the population – Lusa

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Mozambique: Three suspected terrorists captured by the population – Lusa

9:07 CAT | 14 Feb 2024

Map: Rádio Moçambique

Residents of the village of Nanoa, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, claim to have captured three individuals suspected of collaborating with terrorist groups operating in the region, local sources told Lusa on Monday.

“They captured three people in Nanoa, one of them a DR Congo national. He came out of the forest with a large wound. Due to his characteristics, he generated distrust in the community,” a source from the Ancuabe district in Cabo Delgado told Lusa.

Another source stated that the suspects were captured between February 6th and 7th.

The suspect, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, at first asked the owners of the field where he was found to help him get to the nearest hospital to receive treatment, but was then seized by members of the public.

The other two suspects, both Mozambicans from the neighbouring province of Nampula, also surfaced in an agricultural field in Nanoa, six kilometres from the district headquarters of Ancuabe, where they were captured and also handed over to the authorities.

“They arrived separately in different machambas [agricultural fields],” said the source.

The movement of terrorist groups in recent days has triggered pursuit by the Defence and Security Forces in Ancuabe. On Friday, military movements generated panic among the population, leading several families to abandon their homes, fearing further attacks.

“The agitation was created by helicopters flying above the villages of Ancuabe – when the population sees helicopters they think they [the terrorists] are already close,” said another local source, adding however that the situation in the area had since returned to normal.

“I left when I saw the helicopters circulating, we’re not used to it,” one 47-year-old woman confessed to Lusa. She returned from the Ancuabe headquarters on Sunday after a two-day absence.

The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for six years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, which has led to a military response since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community, liberating districts close to the gas projects.

After a period of relative stability, new attacks and movements have been recorded in Cabo Delgado in recent weeks, although locally authorities suspect that the movement is linked to the persecution imposed by defence and security forces in the districts of Macomia, Quissanga and Muidumbe, among the most affected.

The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Source: Lusa