Cabo Delgado: Insurgents attack on Sunday – report

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Cabo Delgado: Insurgents attack on Sunday – report

10:19 CAT | 31 Jul 2018

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File photo: Laura Monahan

After roughly 10 days of relative calm, the insurgents who have been sowing a climate of pain, mourning and terror in the northern districts of Cabo Delgado since the end of last year struck again in the early hours of Sunday (July 29).

This time the target, according to sources interviewed by Mediafax on the ground, was the village of Chitolo, located in the administrative post of Chaka, Mocímboa da Praia district. Chitolo was also the first village to be attacked, on October 5 last year.

According to witnesses, the insurgents attempted to take a joint Mozambique Defence Forces/Police outpost, and an intense firefight lasting about two hours ensued.

Despite the joint force’s strong reaction, it appears that one soldier was killed in the confrontation and some military equipment stolen by the attacking party. After that, the group immediately disappeared back into the woods, leaving the authorities to execute what they call a “persecution”.

The village of Chitolo is about 25 kilometres distant from the district headquarters of Mocímboa da Praia. The indication is that the insurgents failed to reach the centre of the village, and there are no reports of deaths or injuries among the civilian population.

Day-to-day events like this in districts of Cabo Delgado now account for nearly 80 deaths, dozens of homes and public and private infrastructure vandalised or destroyed, and the displacement of residents to seemingly safer areas, their subsistence activities left behind.

Source: Mediafax