Cabo Delgado: Governor listens to reports in Mecufi district – Lusa

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Cabo Delgado: Governor listens to reports in Mecufi district – Lusa

4:37 CAT | 17 Jun 2022

Photo: Conselho Executivo de Cabo Delgado

The Governor of Cabo Delgado expressed solidarity with the population while on a visit to Mecufi, a district south of Pemba, where the village of Mancuaia was the target of an armed attack on Tuesday (14-06), as announced by Valige Tauabo..

Governor Tauabo held popular rallies with district residents who fled the incursion which, before the Governor’s visit, had not yet been confirmed.

The attack followed a new wave of armed violence in Cabo Delgado, this time in the south of the province, around the provincial capital, Pemba.

Six armed rebels on foot, with their faces covered and red scarves around their necks, killed a person on the bank of a stream after looting Mancuaia on Tuesday, according to reports by residents who had fled.

In the village, they stole food products, and destroyed stalls and houses.

They also tied up a child, for fear that he would report anything he might see, according to two of the residents who attended one of the governor’s rallies yesterday.

The attackers did not speak to anyone and, for some time, displayed a black flag with stars and Arabic inscriptions which residents could not identify.

The population fled to another part of the district a few dozen kilometres from Mancuaia, where Valige Tauabo yesterday held a rally.

Fleeing residents said there were only 10 people left in the village, mostly local leaders, and no women.

Speaking in eMakua, the governor expressed his solidarity with the victims of the attacks and asked the population to be vigilant, saying that the rebels could be the children of any family residing there.

He also asked that they cooperate with military personnel on the ground there, as the perpetrators of the attacks, now in disarray, might pass through the villages.

Addressing the displaced, Tauabo said that no one would stop them, but did warn of other risks they may face, such as hunger, a common complaint among those displaced.

Speaking in Portuguese to journalists at the end of the meeting, he reiterated that vigilance was key to ensuring that intruders did not infiltrate the communities.

Witnesses speaking to Lusa in the last week indicate at least eight deaths in Ancuabe district since June 5, including community leaders, some by decapitation, and residents say that there are still several people missing.

In one of the attacks, security guards at a graphite mine were shot, while another company mining the same material suspended logistics operations along the province’s main road.

Source: Lusa