Mozambique: Locals warn of further insurgent movements, yet no attacks
Photo: Twitter / @DelgadoCabo
Police commander, Bernardino Rafael, has said that the “terrorists” carrying out attacks in Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique, are also active in Niassa province.
Rafael said that the first action of the armed groups in Niassa was an attack on a police vehicle in Mavago district, which resulted in the injury of officers.
Following this, the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) undertook an operation that resulted in the destruction of a camp of armed men in the district.
“We managed to recover some equipment and saw that these were armed men,” he said.
In another raid, armed men attacked a hunting den in Niassa province, destroying a camp.
This was followed by a police patrol falling into an ambush, with the officers fighting back and killing a leader of the armed groups, whose name was Cassimo.
“People in Niassa know him, he was a ‘maulana’ [Muslim leader] in Mecula and from the death of this terrorist, we drew the conclusion that these were terrorists who crossed from Cabo Delgado to Mecula,” he said.
Last week, analysts told Lusa that the Mozambican provinces of Niassa and Nampula in the north and Zambézia in the centre were a “perfect refuge and for expansion” of armed groups fleeing Cabo Delgado province, in the face of an offensive by the armed forces of Mozambique, Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.
At this moment, part of the population is sheltering in the offices of the Special Reserve of #Niassa, specifically in #Mbatamila, as can be seen in the images. pic.twitter.com/3wv9ErKE7A
— Cabo Delgado (@DelgadoCabo) December 9, 2021
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