Clashes between govt forces and Renamo in the fight for Mugeba / Morrothone

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Clashes between govt forces and Renamo in the fight for Mugeba / Morrothone

4:36 CAT | 29 Mar 2016

The village of Mugeba in the administrative post of Murrothone, Mocuba district, Zambezia province, came under fire during a clash between government and Renamo military forces in the early hours of Thursday 24 March, Canalmoz reports.

The populations of Murrothone and Canivete fled homes in search of safety and local services including schools were suspended as staff took flight.

Journalists from Television of Mozambique and Radio Nova Paz de Quelimane who had travelled to the north of the province to cover an event were among those forced to retrace their steps to Quelimane because of the situation.

Rockets, artillery and gunfire were heard in the region of Canivete, according to witnesses. The press, including TVM, recorded the population fleeing, but airing the footage was banned so as not to give the impression of a country at war, according to television station personnel cited by Canalmoz.

Renamo military sources contacted by Canalmoz confirmed that there were armed clashes between their men and government forces.

In Renamo’s version, events began to unfold at around 4:00 a.m. Thursday when government special forces opened fire from the Canivete market area approximately two kilometres from the Murothone Renamo base, with what are assumed to be mortars.

According to the same sources, Renamo forces then encircled government troops to the rear and opened fire. After being scattered, government military personnel were seen entering the Mocuba district military headquarters.

It is assumed that there were dead and injured, although local sources have not reported any casualties.

“It’s a lie. I have no information. It was a truck “- PRM commander, Joao Mahunguele

On Sunday, the provincial commander of the PRM in Zambezia, Joao Mahunguele, gave three versions of events.

He first said he had no information about a confrontation between government forces and Renamo. He next said the reports were mistaken, because he had spoken to the district health director, who was at the scene and had told him that there had not been any confrontation.

Mahunguele’s third version was: “It’s a lie, there was no attack or confrontation. I do not have that information. I think the panic was caused by a vehicle that overturned and closed the road, leading people to think that there had been an attack. I do not know if it was a goods vehicle or a passenger vehicle, but I think it was a goods vehicle.”

A truck carrying Defence and Security Forces personnel did come under fire on the Nauane river bridge in Tomo, between Nicoadala and Nzero (Morrumbala) on Saturday afternoon and was damaged, an incident that Mahunguele also denied.

Clashes in Báruè, Manica province

In a statement issued on Friday 25 March, Renamo president Afonso Dhlakama, through his chief of staff, Augusto Mateus, said that Renamo and government forces clashed in the administrative post of Honde, Báruè district, Manica province, on the morning of Tuesday 22 March.

According to the statement, government forces ended the engagement at a disadvantage and abducted seven civilian members of the population, whose families did not know their whereabouts at the time of going to press.

Renamo also says that on the afternoon of 22 March, government forces kidnapped Joaquim Jacinto, the party’s Báruè district political delegate, in the town of Nyazónia. His whereabouts remain unknown and he is assumed by his party to have been murdered.

Source: Canalmoz