Mozambique: At least 182 insurgents surrender to armed forces – president

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Mozambique: At least 182 insurgents surrender to armed forces – president

8:08 CAT | 25 Sep 2024

Photo: Presidency

The president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, said on Wednesday that at least 182 terrorists have handed themselves in to the Mozambican authorities and have been reintegrated into their communities.

“The group of those who have left the terrorist ranks includes 182 terrorists who have handed themselves in to the authorities, who, like the others, have been reintegrated into their communities without discrimination or stigmatisation and have been integrated into their respective families,” said Filipe Nyusi, during the official ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Outbreak of the National Liberation Struggle and the Day of the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique (FADM).

According to Filipe Nyusi, many citizens who were living in captivity have left the terrorist groups and returned to their families as a result of a counter-propaganda programme approved by the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces.

The Mozambican head of state said fighting had been ongoing in Mucojo, in the district of Macomia, between the insurgent groups and the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces since Tuesday night.

“We have information that we are in combat or direct contact with the enemy as of this evening. The young people are endeavouring to reoccupy Mucojo in its entirety, they are there now, let’s hope that the good times repeat themselves in a few hours,” said the president of Mozambique.

Despite the clashes in Mucojo, the president pointed to a significant return of the population to their areas of origin, noting that the situation in Cabo Delgado is currently “relatively stabilised” and that work is underway to rebuild destroyed infrastructure in that province.

“Clothed in sincerity and with a necessary humility, without proclaiming victories because we want them definitively, we can say that the result of the operations carried out on the ground, the security situation in the districts once covered by intense terrorist acts, is much better than in 2018, than before, when the projects were running normally in the Rovuma basin,” the president added.

Nyusi called for the surrender of the Mozambican military and their allies to be honoured by resuming the normal course of life, including activities in the productive sector at all levels, particularly the resumption of the mega gas exploration projects in Cabo Delgado.

The Mozambican head of state recalled that the first attack on Cabo Delgado took place in the early hours of 5 October 2017 and that in 2018, with its intensification and “modus operandi”, suspicions were dispelled and it became clear that Mozambique was facing the “phenomenon of terrorism of an international nature”.

Since October 2017, the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State.

The last major attack took place on 10 and 11 May on the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred insurgents sacking the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces and Rwandan soldiers, who are supporting Mozambique in the fight against the rebels.

Since the beginning of August, different sources on the ground, including the local force, have reported intense clashes between the joint military mission and the insurgents in the forests of the Mucojo administrative post (Macomia), involving helicopters, armoured vehicles and heavily armed men, with reports of shootings in places considered to be hiding places for these groups.

Source: Lusa