Mozambique: Military ambush suspected insurgents, kill seven
Mocimboa da Praia Street, Mozambique
The main surfaced roads in the town of Mocimboa da Praia, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, have been graffitied with slogans suggesting the intention to impose an Islamic state.
The town, which has been all but abandoned since the June 27 invasion – its third – has seen the streets in front of government buildings daubed with pro-IS slogans in English, residents who survived the attacks told VOA.
Words like “Al-Shaabab tomorrow again” and “Islamic State” have appeared on streets where the district government and the government forces headquarters are located, in the black, red and blue letters characteristic of the flags raised by the group during the invasion of the town.
“The town is unrecognisable. In the Bairro 30 and Muengue neighbourhoods, where there was shelling and the biggest confrontation between the al-Shaabab and the government forces, people are still (July 8) mourning and finding bodies,” a local resident told VOA.
Almost two weeks after its third invasion since the insurgency began in October 2017, the town’s government offices are still closed, and its formal and informal trade paralysed by the massive flight of the population.
“All markets, stores, hospital, high school, Catholic church and businesspeople’s homes have been vandalised by insurgents,” another Mocímboa da Praia resident said, describing a scene of “total destruction”.
“This was the stiffest war (fight) [so far],” the resident added, adding that several girls were missing, allegedly abducted by insurgents.
Residents’ reports say that the insurgents, who still controlled the main entrances and exits of Mocímboa da Praia, remained on the outskirts of the town until Friday, 3, having changed to a tactic of attacking the urban centre at night and at dawn.
In neighbourhoods such as Milamba, Nandota and Nacala, residents said, there were still bodies waiting to be buried on Monday July 6, when more people could be seen leaving for Awasse and Mueda.
Videos circulating on the internet two days after the attack showed at least eight dead insurgents huddled in a military tent riddle with bullet holes.
A military source said on Wednesday that at least 12 members of the Defence and Security Forces suffered serious injuries in the attack of the 27th, eight from the Navy, whose commander was killed, and four from the Rapid Intervention Unit.
On Tuesday, in an interview with the television channel STV, the mayor of Mocímboa da Praia, Calors Momba, said that all infrastructure had been destroyed.
“For three days, the [insurgents] occupied Mocímboa da Praia, and the population left en masse. So far, no services are working. Everything has stopped: no government infrastructure is working, everything has been vandalised,” the mayor reported, while adding, however, that the situation “was now under control”, and asking people to return to their homes.
Insurgents have attacked several villages and towns in the province of Cabo Delgado since October 2017. In recent months, the Defence and Security Forces have been fighting back.
Latest figures from the Armed Conflict Localization and Event Data Project (ACLED) indicate that the Cabo Delgado insurgency has so far killed about 1,100 people, and displaced 211,000.
By André Baptista
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