Mozambique: Over 160,000 people in Manica may be affected by flooding
Photo: Carta de Moçambqiue
The Mozambican government announced on Sunday that the country’s Defence and Security Forces (FDS) had regained control of the town of Macomia, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, and killed two leaders of the terrorist groups that occupied it.
“Two of the group’s main leaders were shot down in the counteroffensive,” Defence Minister Jaime Neto said in a statement to Mozambique Television (TVM).
According to Neto, 78 rebels died in the retaking of the town and the two leaders killed were Tanzanian nationals, one of whom had led the first attack on Mocímboa da Praia in October 2017. “It is said that Njorogue was the one that started with the attacks on Mocímboa da Praia on October 5th, 2017, ” the minister said, quoted by DW Africa.
“They probably did not expect our forces to be so well organised,”Minister Neto added.
The clashes in Macomia since Thursday brought down the electricity cable supplying the northern part of Cabo Delgado, which passes close to the village and which, the Minister of Defence promised, would be replaced soon.
No more information on losses or casualties among civilians or military forces has been released. “Our forces are in Macomia, at the district capital, and are assessing the damage,” Minister Neto added.
The minister urged the population to “continue to collaborate” with the Defence and Security Forces. “If it weren’t for that collaboration, it would have been very difficult for us to even start this counter-attack,” he concluded.
Yesterday, in a statement to journalists in Pemba, the provincial capital, Governor Valige Tauabo announced the “restoration of calm” with “the families returning to their homes” after a general mass flight.
Tauabo also alleged that some residents returning to Macomia and surrounding villages were looting neighbours’ homes, and appealed for order.
Armed groups classified as terrorists and members of the Islamic State ‘jihadist’ movement had occupied Macomia, the main town in the centre of Cabo Delgado province, since Thursday.
Macomia is the best-known hub on the tarred road connecting the north and south of Cabo Delgado. It has a bank branch, various services, commercial establishments and is the capital of a district with around 100,000 inhabitants.
The incursion came after an intensification of violence since March led to the temporary occupation of other villages such as Mocímboa da Praia, Quissanga and Muidumbe, with reports of dozens of deaths among civilians, insurgents and the military.
Cabo Delgado, the province where Africa’s largest private investment for the exploitation of natural gas is going ahead, has been under attack since October 2017 by insurgents classified since the beginning of the year by Mozambican and international authorities as a terrorist threat.
The jihadist Islamic State group has been claiming some of the incursions for about a year now.
In two-and-a-half years of conflict, it is estimated that at least 550 people have died, and that around 200,000 have been forced to take refuge in safer places, losing their homes, agricultural assets and other property.
Daesh ISCAP was finally expelled Friday, 29 of May, from Macomia district siege, in Cabo Delgado. It destroyed large parts of this town, but suffered 78 dead, including two Tanzanian commanders: «Ndjoroje» (Faragi Nankarava) and Ambasse, aka «Amisse». pic.twitter.com/JfIPbHdVRx
— Nuno Rogeiro @nrogeiro (also in Facebook) (@nrogeiro) May 31, 2020
Repeat: Let us analyze Cabo Delgado for what it is and not what we wish it to be. According to Government statements, in total over 200 insurgents killed, yet no statistics on own forces and civilians. Macomia was a defensive response hampered by logistics. https://t.co/ZejE3tqfNX
— Jasmine Opperman (@Jasminechic00) May 31, 2020
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.