Cabo Delgado: Defence Forces says return to Quissanga is possible – Lusa

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Cabo Delgado: Defence Forces says return to Quissanga is possible – Lusa

5:08 CAT | 07 Dec 2020

The Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) say that it is now possible for former residents of Quissanga, a Cabo Delgado town occupied by rebels in March, to return.

“It is possible to return,” commander-general of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) Bernardino Rafael said during a visit to the village on Friday.

Various elements of the FDS and local authorities assessed the degree of destruction, which led to the general flight of residents from the village, 100 kilometres from the provincial capital, Pemba.

Quissanga is now far from the area where clashes have been concentrated for the last eight months, a conflict zone located 200 kilometres to the north and covering Muidumbe and Mocímboa da Praia – the latter still under the control of rebels, according to the latest information provided by a parliamentary commission.

The return to Quissanga may be a challenge, but it is necessary to reoccupy the territory, Bernardino Rafael said.

“It is challenging, yes, but our desire is to see Quissanga up and running. To serve these people in surrounding villages, and the others may also return because some houses have not even been touched, they are fine,” he added.

“The truth is: terrorism exists; we have to confront it,” the PRM commander-general said, calling it “a challenge”, just as are “other phenomena, such as diseases”.

Local authorities estimate that 45,000 people fled Quissanga during the March invasion by rebels.

Armed violence in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, is causing a humanitarian crisis with an estimated 2,000 killed and 500,000 displaced, without adequate housing or food, mainly to the area surrounding the provincial capital, Pemba.

The province, where Africa’s largest private investment, in natural gas, is ongoing, has been under attack by insurgents for three years, with some of the incursions, since 2019, claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Source: Lusa