Mozambique: Government forces repel terrorist attack on village

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Mozambique: Government forces repel terrorist attack on village

6:23 CAT | 19 Jul 2022

FILE- For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces halted a rebel incursion in Meluco district on Sunday, local sources told Lusa today.

The incursion took place around 8 p.m. and the target was the village of Iba, located almost 50 kilometres from the Meluco district headquarters.

“The terrorists wanted to attack the village of Iba once again, but were unable to do so, thanks to the prompt intervention of the Defence and Security Forces, which have a position right next to the village,” said a resident of Meluco.

In recent days, the village of Iba and others nearby have been a “corridor” for rebels fleeing the offensives of government forces in northern Cabo Delgado towards the south of the province, a local force source explained to Lusa.

“The situation is minimally under control because security has been reinforced on the ground,” the source noted, adding that the exchange of fire between the rebels and government forces on Sunday left no fatalities.

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.

There are about 800,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with the support of Rwanda, later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), allowed to recover areas where there was a presence of rebels, but their flight has provoked new attacks in other districts used as passage or refuge.

Source: Lusa