Mozambique: Government appoints commander of Afungi special operation zone for gas mega-project

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Mozambique: Government appoints commander of Afungi special operation zone for gas mega-project

7:15 CAT | 22 Mar 2021

File photo: CDD Moçambique

Minister of the Interior Amade Miquidade on Thursday swore into office António Bachir as the new first deputy commander of the Afungi Special Operation Zone, where gas extraction projects are being developed.

“This is no longer a post, but rather an added responsibility, and the state expects innovation, expertise, experience and science,” Minister Miquidade said during the inauguration ceremony at the Escola Prática da Polícia in Matlane, on the outskirts of Maputo.

The creation of a special operation zone in Afungi, announced on Tuesday, aims to protect the area where gas projects led by oil company Total are being carried out.

“We will be here to boost [the region],” the minister declared.

The Defence and Security Forces designate as ‘special theatre of operations’ areas of the national territory where specific interventions are or may come to be underway, such as the Northern Operational Theatre for the conflict with armed rebels in Cabo Delgado, or the Central Operational Theatre, where the authorities are pursuing a Renamo splinter group thought to be responsible for attacks that have killed 30 people since 2019.

Mozambique currently has four special operation zones.

In addition to António Bachir, the Minister of the Interior on Thursday swore seven other officers into leadership positions in the Mozambican police.

The armed violence which broke out in Cabo Delgado in 2017 is causing a humanitarian crisis, with more than 2,000 dead and 560,000 people displaced, without adequate housing or food, mainly to the provincial capital, Pemba, and environs.

Between June 2019 and November 2020, some of the incursions in the more northerly districts of the province were claimed by the jihadist ‘Islamic State’ group, but the true origins of the conflict are still a matter of debate.

Source: Lusa