Mozambique: Governor asks for vigilance of terrorists posing as displaced people

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Mozambique: Governor asks for vigilance of terrorists posing as displaced people

9:38 CAT | 20 Aug 2021

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Conselho Executivo de Cabo Delgado]

The governor of Cabo Delgado on Thursday asked the public to be vigilant to prevent rebels, who are fleeing the offensive by the joint force of Mozambique and Rwanda, mixing with the displaced.

“When escaping, the terrorists will also want to pose as IDPs coming from our villages. This is where we are called upon to be vigilant because this is where the terrorists will want to blend in,” Valige Tauabo said.

The fight against insurgents gained new momentum when on 8 August joint forces from Mozambique and Rwanda re-took the strategic port town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been in rebel hands for over a year.

Rwanda has sent a contingent of 800 soldiers and 200 police officers to Mozambique to combat the armed groups, under a bilateral agreement with Maputo.

Valige Tauabo also appealed for the public to be more careful when accommodating supposed displaced persons from the insurgency-affected districts in the north of the province.

“If we are going to host anyone who has come from those districts, it is the responsibility of the host to share the information with the local structures,” Tauabo said.

Apart from Rwanda, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has deployed the Standby Force in Mozambique, launched on 9 August, to combat armed groups, but no combat action has yet been reported from the mission.

The number of troops SADC has sent to Mozambique is not known, but experts from the organisation had estimated the number of men to be part of the mission at around 3,000.

The province of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, has been the scene of attacks by armed groups since 2017, described by several governments and international bodies as “terrorist”.

Following the attacks in Cabo Delgado, there are more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Source: Lusa