Mozambique: Fishermen detained in Ancuabe for alleged involvement in terrorism - AIM
File photo: Macomia Health Centre, Cabo Delgado. [File photo: Doctor Without Borers Mozambique]
Insurgents in Cabo Delgado beheaded 15 heads of families in one week in the districts of Macomia and Meluco, again sowing panic among the population after the abduction of 10 girls in the district of Mocímboa da Praia.
Residents’ reports indicate that 10 heads of households were beheaded on Wednesday, June 10, and Thursday, June 11, in Cabora village, Quiterajo, Macomia district, which has been the target of several attacks by the insurgents since the occupation of the district headquarters village for three days in late May.
Another five heads of families had been beheaded on Wednesday, June 3, at the Imbada ridge in Unguia, Meluco district.
The new incident comes almost a month after four other civilians attending a funeral ceremony in a village in the district were beheaded.
In both incidents, the population was attacked at night, residents say, and have since spent the night in the woods.
“They arrived by surprise and at night, so the first families (near the entry point) were unable to escape. People were alerted by the screams and cries and started to flee, each in their own way,” Abdul Mahando, a survivor who sought refuge in Pemba, explained to VOA.
Another resident said that insurgents selectively beheaded heads of families belonging to the Makonde tribe during the attack on Cabora village in Macomia, in line with their exploitation of tribal rivalries between the Makonde and Macua tribes.
“We see that there is also hatred and tribal persecution from these ‘al-shaabab’,” one Macomia resident said.
He also that many of the people displaced from Mocímboa da Praia are suffering discrimination in their new havens because they were the epicentre of the insurgency, and because [Mocimboa] residents appeared in several videos supporting the insurgents published on social media.
Local sources say residents of Cabo Delgado’s northern districts are also facing the new danger of girls being abducted, supposedly to serve the insurgents.
The most recent episode occurred last Thursday, when 10 girls were abducted during the flight of the insurgents in Mocímboa da Praia.
Meanwhile, ‘Carta de Moçambique’ reported on Friday that 22 insurgents were shot down by the Defence and Security Forces (FDS), during a military operation on Tuesday, June 9, in Mocímboa da Praia.
Of the insurgents, 13 were reportedly killed for not “cooperating” with the FDS after their capture and the remaining nine in the theatre of operations, via combined air and land operations, writes the Maputo publication.
By André Baptista
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