Mozambique: President extends condolences on passing of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu
Alleged Renamo opposition fighters have opened up three craters in the Save-Muxungué section of the country’s main road, in the Machanga and Chibabava districts of Sofala province in central Mozambique where traffic is subject to mandatory army escort.
“They have opened holes across both lanes on the N1 in three places – one near the Ripembe river military position. Traffic flow has become even more difficult and dangerous,” a truck driver told Lusa yesterday, describing the manoeuvres loaded trucks have to undertake to avoid the holes.
The excavations measure more than 15 metres, the driver said, and were made over the weekend, making the movement of vehicles “slower and lengthier” in areas with frequent attacks on vehicles.
“Security has been tightened in the sections where the road is cut. When the column reaches these places, the military cover the craters, while the others in the column guarantee the security of passing cars,” one traveller who made the Save-Muxungué trip yesterday said.
Last week, Renamo partisans wrote slogans on the road surface which read: “We want parity, we do not want the war to kill our children. Renamo. Victory is ours.”
Renamo’s security and defence department announced on February 8 that it intended to set up control posts on the main roads in central Mozambique in response to what it claims to be a wave of kidnapping and execution of its members.
Three days later, the first attack on civilian vehicles took place, and the defence and security forces reactivated mandatory army escorts in the Save-Muxungué and Nhamapadza-Caia sections of the N1.
In 2013, Renamo launched frequent attacks on civilian and military vehicles in the Save-Muxungué section of the N1 in Sofala, prompting the initiation of escorted convoys which only ended with the signing of the cessation of military hostilities agreement on September 5, 2014.
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