Terrorists claim deaths of 11 Mozambican soldiers - AIM
Mozambique: Armed men attack village in Mecula district, Niassa – AIM report
5:57 CAT | 17 Feb 2020
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Unidentified armed men attacked a village in Mecula district, in the northern Mozambican province of Niassa, on Thursday afternoon, according to a report in Monday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”.
A police source cited by the newssheet said the attack began at about 15.00. After shooting into the air, the group set fire to houses in the village.
The burning down of homes is one of the hallmarks of the terrorist groups waging an islamist insurgency in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado. It is feared that the insurgency may now have spilled across the provincial boundary into Niassa. Mecula is a district that borders on Cabo Delgado.
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Units of the Mozambican defence and security forces from Mecula town and Marrupa district went to the site of the raid, and pursued the attackers. According to the police source, eight of the terrorists were killed and a further 15 were injured. Some of the raiders were captured, and the police say the situation is now under control.
Interviewed by Radio Mozambique, the spokesperson of the Niassa Provincial Police Command, Alves Mathe, guaranteed that the Mozambican forces are committed to dismantling the entire group.
He did not speculate on their identity but recalled that last year the General Commander of the Police, Bernadino Rafael, had warned that young men in Mecula are being recruited to join the terrorist bands in Cabo Delgado.
At the time, Rafael said this activity involved a Tanzanian citizen, named Amisse Bacar. It is not clear whether this man is still in Mozambique.
Mecula is in the Niassa National Reserve, the largest conservation area in the country, and the district has been used as a corridor by poachers.
Source: AIM
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