Mocímboa da Praia to register residents, collect info on national & foreign visitors – Mozambique

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Mocímboa da Praia to register residents, collect info on national & foreign visitors – Mozambique

12:16 CAT | 17 Oct 2017

The Mocímboa da Praia district, northern Mozambique, will register residents following attacks by an armed group of Islamic fundamentalists supposedly composed of people originating from the village. The registration process begins today.

“We are working to increase community vigilance,” Mocímboa da Praia mayor Fernando Neves told Lusa yesterday.

Registration will be conducted through the neighbourhood structures, so that the populations knows in detail who lives there and more about them, he said, especially “those who do not study, and why not”.

“In order to develop, in order to have ideas, we must first study: poverty is in our head” and “ignorance” opens the door to manipulation by third parties, he said.

Also Read: Mocímboa da Praia- Awassa – Military vehicle escort implemented

Islamic and state authorities think that it is the most underprivileged who are being manipulated by the supposed religious leaders into attacking the authorities as a means of self-assertion.

Fernando Neves estimates that this new population register – which will complement information already collected during the national population and housing census carried out in August – will start today Tuesday and last for 30 days.

The action also includes the collection of information on national and foreign visitors.

Also Read: Accusations and arrests follow armed group attack in northern Mozambique

Reports from the population not as yet confirmed by the authorities indicate that shots continued to be heard in the bush outside Mocímboa da Praia until dawn on Sunday (October 15).

The mayor of the municipality however says that no further reinforcements beyond those already stationed in Mocímboa are needed for the time being.

In an attack starting on October 5 and lasting 48 hours, two policemen, 14 attackers and a village secretary died and several civilians were injured.

Four further security service personnel and seven members of the armed group were killed in another clash on Thursday, October 12, near the village of Maculo, about 20 kilometres north of Mocímboa da Praia, according to reports.

Also Read: Cabo Delgado governor urges “calm and vigilance”

Source: Lusa