Military junta denies involvement in new attacks in central Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Military junta denies involvement in new attacks in central Mozambique

4:58 CAT | 22 Sep 2020

File photo: DW

Police in Mozambique are holding a Renamo splinter group responsible for an attack which killed one and wounded eight on the EN1 in Sofala on Sunday, but the leader of the Military Junta counter-accuses the government.

Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Sofala confirmed the occurrence of an armed attack between Gorongosa and Nhamatanda on Sunday (20-09), with a provisional toll of one dead and nine wounded, although witnesses have reported two deaths.

“We have recorded an attack carried out by the self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta who fired several shots at vehicles on the EN1 with AKM-type weapons,” local PRM spokesman Daniel Macuácua said.

“It is the government that must know”

Responsibility for the attack is however denied by Mariano Nhongo, the leader of the group, who says it is the government which must investigate the authorship of the incidents.

Nhdw — *Mariano Nhong ,leader of the Military Junta*

“Don’t ask me about these attacks, because I don’t know either,” he said. “Ask the government who is carrying out these attacks, what is happening in these attacks … It is up to the government to find out,” Nhongo says.

The self-proclaimed Military Junta, which contests the leadership of Mozambique’s largest opposition party, has been blamed by the Mozambican authorities for numerous attacks since June 2019, when it was founded.

Momade calls for union

Ossufo Momade, who has been on a working visit to Sofala province since last Sunday, had again called on Nhongo to align himself with the party and join the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process for former Renamo guerrillas.

Osmd — *Ossufo Momade is the current leader of Renamo, Mozambique’s largest opposition party*

“We have made several calls for Nhongo to come to his senses,” the party leader said. “At no time did we stop inviting them to return. At this moment the DDR is taking place, and we wish for these brothers not to miss this opportunity, because it is the one and only opportunity that they can take advantage of,” he added, saying that “if they lose the opportunity, we will have problems”.

Another attack was reported, also on Sunday and on two freight vehicles on the Muxungue-Save section of the EN1, but has not yet been confirmed by the police. This is the second day of incidents in the centre of the country in less than a week, after an armed attack on three passenger buses in Pungwe on Thursday (17-09).

Source: Deutsche Welle