Mozambican murder suspect sought, up to R50 000 reward offered - South African Police Service
Photo posted by Pinnacle News, reportedly of civilians hiding in woods around Muidumbe [Photo: Twitter /@Jasminechic00]
The jihadist Islamic State (IS) group claimed the armed attack on the Muidumbe district in northern Mozambique, reported by several local sources on Tuesday to Lusa.
In a message released through its communication channels, the IS said that its members attacked a Mozambican army post in Muidumbe, using a variety of weapons resulting in deaths and injuries, while those who remained alive escaped.
The IS announced the seizure of a vehicle, weapons and ammunition.
Residents of the region told Lusa on Wednesday that there was a widespread exodus of the inhabitants after the attacks on Monday and Tuesday.
“I am in Mueda and there are many people who have fled here, leaving the villages of Ntchinga, Xitaxi and Muatide (villages of Muidumbe) and Namacande (headquarters of Muidumbe),” one of the fleeing residents said in telephone contact, under anonymity.
“Even here in Mueda, people are running away because the information is circulating that they are on their way here,” another resident said.
Mueda is a village and district headquarters in the western part of Cabo Delgado, farthest from the coastal region, the worst hit by armed groups.
Another Namacande resident said he has been in the bush since Monday’s attack, reporting that the armed group burned down houses, infrastructure, the bank, fuel pumps and the administration building.
Other reports heard on Tuesday by the Lusa reported that members of the armed group told the population they should all join Islam, destroying a Catholic church and taking four people with them.
In contact with Lusa, the bishop of Pemba, Luiz Fernando Lisboa, said he had the same information regarding a church on fire and reports that the population was fleeing to the bush.
Different local sources told Lusa that alongside the attacks in Muidumbe district, there was also an armed incursion against Bilibiza on Monday, more than 100 kilometres to the south and about 50 kilometres from Pemba, the provincial capital.
Bilibiza is a village where an agrarian school was attacked in January and from where part of the population fled.
Lusa contacted the Mozambican police spokesman in Cabo Delgado, Augusto Guta, who neither confirmed nor denied the information, and no other source from the Mozambican defence and security forces has spoken out on the case.
The police did not hold the usual weekly meeting with the media and the weekly bulletin of occurrences published today does not refer to the situation in Cabo Delgado.
The province has been the target of attacks by armed groups that international organisations classify as a terrorist threat and which in two and a half years has already claimed at least 350 lives, in addition to 156,400 people affected with loss of property or forced to abandon their homes and lands in search of safe places.
In late March, the towns of Mocímboa and Quissanga were invaded by a group which destroyed several infrastructures and raised its flag in a barracks of the Defence and Security Forces.
On the occasion, in a video distributed online, an alleged jihadist militant justified the attacks by armed groups in northern Mozambique to impose Islamic law in the region.
Dear followers, do not be fooled by videos showing insurgents engaging locals as a change in attitude – the details on what happened so some locals horrific. Mozambique need push back and damn quickly https://t.co/sVG9FuT5NR
— Jasmine Opperman (@Jasminechic00) April 8, 2020
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