Cabo Delgado: Authorities close mosques with alleged links to armed attacks in northern Mozambique

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Cabo Delgado: Authorities close mosques with alleged links to armed attacks in northern Mozambique

2:46 CAT | 17 Nov 2017

File photo (For illustration purposes only)

Authorities in Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique are closing down mosques in the province that are believed to have been frequented by members of an armed group that a month ago killed police and besieged a village.

“The measure taken by the government only covers the mosques that had some contact with the group of citizens involved in the events of Mocímboa da Praia,” said Álvaro Gonçalves, provincial director of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, quoted today by the newspaper Notícias.

According to Gonçalves, three places of worship in Pemba, the provincial capital, have already been ordered to close, and the measure will include others in the same city, as well as in the districts of Chiúre, Montepuez, Macomia, Mocímboa da Praia, Palma and Nangade.

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The action is being carried out with the acquiescence of Mozambique’s two Muslim congregations, the Islamic Council and the Islamic Congress.

Nassurulahe Dulá, leader of the Islamic Congress in Pemba, said that Islamic radicalism was being promoted in the places covered by the operation.

Also Read: Mocímboa da Praia to register residents, collect info on national & foreign visitors

In an interview with Lusa in October, at the time of the attacks, Dulá said that communities in the province are being mobilised to rebel against state institutions and institute a radical vision of Islam that would have contributed to the attacks.

Mozambican historian Yussuf Adam however, also in an interview with Lusa, complained in early November of what he calls a lack of transparency in the ongoing investigative process and arrests.

Also Read: Why Islamist attack demands a careful response from Mozambique

Attacks by dozens of gunmen on the Mocímboa da Praia police station closed all services on October 5 and 6, while sporadic shootings between the group and the authorities took place in the village.

A week later, there was renewed confrontation in the bush near Mocímboa, where villagers reported hearing shootings into the second half of October.

Two policemen were killed and four other officers killed in the ambush. At least 14 attackers were killed in the clashes, according to the latest government figures.

Also Read: 100 people under arrest after Mocímboa da Praia attacks – AIM

Also Read: Dhlakama says Mocímboa da Praia attacks are aimed at sowing division

Source: Lusa