Mozambique: Four killed by police in rescue of two kidnap victims – Watch

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Mozambique: Four killed by police in rescue of two kidnap victims – Watch

12:29 CAT | 14 Nov 2024

Screen grab: STV

At least four suspected kidnappers have died in a clash with Mozambican police during the rescue of two businessmen kidnapped in August and October, one of them Portuguese, the country’s National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has announced.

The police officers carrying out the rescue operation faced gunshots and fought back, explained Hilário Lole, a SERMIC spokesman on Wednesday.

“Some of the kidnap victims were in the house; the agents had no choice but to enter the house and were shot at by the individuals inside,” said Lole, speaking to the media from the site. “The agents also responded promptly and fatally shot four members of this gang.”

According to the spokesman, the suspects who were killed had been guarding the businessmen, one of whom was kidnapped on 5 August in the vicinity of a hotel in Maputo and another, of Portuguese nationality, from the construction industry, who was kidnapped on 29 October, also in the Mozambican capital.

“Fortunately, they were rescued alive, with no visible injuries,” said Lole. “Of course, they may be suffering from some kind of disorder and will undergo the necessary tests to ascertain the reality of their physical and mental state of health.”

According to SERNIC, the rescue was the result of coordinated work with other Mozambican authorities.

Around 150 businesspeople have been kidnapped in Mozambique in the last 12 years and around 100 have left the country for fear of being taken, according to figures released in July by the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), which argues that it is time for the government to say “enough is enough” where such crimes are concerned.

As of March, the Mozambican police have recorded a total of 185 cases of kidnapping and at least 288 people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in this type of crime since 2011, the minister of interior, Pascoal Ronda, announced earlier.

Source: Lusa / STV