Mozambique: 12 insurgents killed in Palma, four civilians in Macomia… – Carta

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Mozambique: 12 insurgents killed in Palma, four civilians in Macomia… – Carta

4:39 CAT | 05 Dec 2019

in file CoM

As has been reported, the fighting in Cabo Delgado – more precisely in the districts of Macomia, Palma, Muidumbe and Nangade – remains intense, ‘Carta de Moçambique’ reports. In the last five days, at least 18 people have lost their lives, 12 of them members of the terrorist group which has, since October 2017, been perpetrating macabre crimes in the region. Five were civilians and one was an agent of the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS).

According to army sources stationed in the theatre of operations, the insurgents attacked Olumbi village in Palma district on November 30, killing one woman, burning two informal shops and vandalising private property. In some of the vandalised establishments, the insurgents went so far as to throw away significant quantities of food products such as dried fish and rice.

With the help of the population, the FDS gave pursuit, killing four of the group and capturing another four. One FDS agent was shot dead during the fighting. ‘Carta’ sources reveal that the operation continued last Monday (December 2), with the FDS penetrating Olumbi village and shooting eight more insurgents.

The insurgents, who have been attacking villages and towns for two years without revealing their true aims, have already killed more than 500 people, according a report by Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

Macomia: The losses never stop

Another incident happened on November 29, in the village of Nacutuco, eight kilometres from the headquarters of the Administrative Post of Mucojo, Macomia district. The insurgent action resulted in the deaths of four civilians and serious injury to a fifth person, and several huts were set ablaze.

According to local residents contacted by our newspaper, the insurgents remained in the village for about three hours, with no response from the FDS, only 8 km away.

Of the four civilians killed, one was beheaded, one burned and two shot at close range. Reports from people at Mucojo administrative headquarters indicate that all those killed in Nacutuco had just returned to the village after having lived in Mucojo headquarters for about a year for safety.

In Mucojo headquarters, ‘Carta’ found an FDS unit that previously occupied the village of Nacutuco. After the attack on 27 November 2018, which culminated in the death of a civilian and the destruction of more than 14 informal shops [barracas], the army had set up a position there, but moved it to the headquarters village a few months later.

The withdrawal of this position from Nacutuco has already cost the lives of five fishermen who were returning from a day’s work last August.

Indian support

As ‘Carta’ reported on Tuesday, the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries fighting the insurgents in Cabo Delgado have returned to the theatre of operations after a strategic retreat.

Coincidentally or not, President Filipe Nyusi also made a lightning visit to Cabo Delgado Province at a time when India’s interest in supporting Mozambique in the field of defence and security is being talked about.

In fact, in a statement dated 29 November, the Mozambican Ministry of Defence announced that Minister Atanasio M’tumuke and his Indian counterpart Raksha Mantri have signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the area of maritime defence and security in the Mozambique economic exclusion zone. It was also revealed that the New Delhi authorities were supporting Mozambique with maritime control vessels and 44 vehicles for SERNIC.

Source: Carta de Moçambique