Four people killed in two attacks on farmer’s camps in Mocímboa district, northern Mozambique

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Four people killed in two attacks on farmer’s camps in Mocímboa district, northern Mozambique

8:58 CAT | 03 Dec 2018

It is not yet known who the perpetrators of the attacks were, but authorities suspect that the same armed group which has been terrorising Cabo Delgado since the beginning of November is responsible. Photo: António Silva / Lusa

Four people have been killed in two attacks on farmers’ camps in remote areas of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, local sources told Lusa on Sunday.

One attack, on a camp in Natchunde, Mocimboa da Praia district, was carried out by four people armed with machine guns and machetes.

The second occurred in the early hours of Saturday in Njana, also in Mocimboa da Praia district, when a group of four men, one armed with a machine gun, set fire to a camp, killing one in the blaze, sources said.

The targets were temporary ‘production camps’ where villagers reside while working farmland in the vicinity.

It is not known who the perpetrators of these attacks were, but they are suspected to be linked to the groups responsible for other attacks carried out in the area since early November, which have resulted in at least 20 deaths in the last month alone.

Since a year ago, according to official figures, about 100 people have died, including residents, alleged attackers and members of the security forces.

The wave of violence in Cabo Delgado, 2,000 kilometres north of Maputo in the far north of Mozambique, near Tanzania, erupted after an armed attack on police stations in Mocimboa da Praia in October 2017.

In that incident, two police officials were killed by a group from a local mosque preaching insurgency against the state, and whose behaviour had been the source of friction for at least two years.

The attacks, which have already caused nearly 100 deaths, have always occurred in remote areas (with the exception of the initial attack on Mocimboa da Praia) and well away from any infrastructure belonging to the oil companies preparing to exploit natural gas on the Afungi peninsula in the district of Palma.

Source: Lusa