Mozambican deserters point to Tanzanians as ringleaders of attacks

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Mozambican deserters point to Tanzanians as ringleaders of attacks

3:34 CAT | 12 Jun 2018

in file CoM

Two young Mozambicans who escaped from captivity by the insurgent group say that Tanzanians are the ringleaders and financiers of the groups.

Sumail Amade and Ali Momade recently escaped after being held for a month at the groups Naneia and Ututuwa bases, later destroyed by the FDS. They say that the ringleaders are Tanzanian citizens who coordinate criminal activities with the support of Mozambican civilians living in Cabo Delgado who indicate places to be targeted for the attacks.

According to Amade, the gang includes four white South Africans, one of whom was killed by the FDS in the Naneia assault and some died due to hunger.

“Other chiefs are in Dar-Es-Salaam, where they handle the finances and give instructions on how to take action. However, in Mozambique there are other bosses who work directly with the attackers,” one of the deserters explained.

They both deny ever using a gun or a machete to kill victims, but admit to having lived with the killers and to have participated in raids to steal cassava from the fields and food from homes to feed the group.

They say they still do not understand the group’s motives, not being allowed to confront the bosses on pain of death.

“I saw that it was not life and I made the decision to run away. Today, I’m good with my family and I promise to collaborate with the FDS in fighting the group. I fled from there without knowing what the underlying purpose of these crimes are. No one is allowed to question the bosses – only to obey orders,” Amade says.

He added that during his time in captivity he had seen at least 400 men carrying 27 firearms as well as 200 women and 70 children. According to his words, the group stole dry cassava in the communities and, given the lack of food, many ended up starving.

“Whoever refuses to comply with the orders of the group leaders is killed. People are forced to go to the fields or residences to steal food,” Amade said, explaining that his enlistment was the work of one of the members who remain in the woods.

Ali Momade, another escapee, says that he joined the group after being abducted in Mocímboa da Praia, and stayed in the woods for a month.

“We slept on the floor with no shelter, the women on one side and the men on the other. We went to the rivers to drink water and ate nothing but dried cassava stolen from the communities. I decided to flee, because the criminality practiced by this group is horrible and inhumane,” Momade said.

Their deliverance came thanks to the siege that the Defense and Security Forces are imposing on the killers, actions that have culminated in the destruction of bases and capture of some members of the group.

Meanwhile, Frelimo in Cabo Delgado has delivered eight tons of food products to the populations which suffered incursions by the group. There are 298 10 kg bags maize flour, 250 bags of rice, 20 boxes of cooking oil and other goods designed to relive the suffering of victims who lost all their belongings in the burned houses.

Source: Jornal Notícias