Mozambique: Locals find four bodies in a forest

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Mozambique: Locals find four bodies in a forest

4:17 CAT | 21 Dec 2022

Illustrative image: MapCarta

Residents of Nova Zambézia, in Macomia district, Cabo Delgado province, have found four corpses in the forest, local sources told Lusa today.

“Of the four bodies we found, three are unknown to us, but one appears to be a member of the ‘local force’ [a group of former guerrillas who support government forces in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado],” a local resident told Lusa.

Nova Zambézia village has a military base, but has nonetheless been the target of successive rebel incursions, with some attempts repelled by government forces.

According to another local source, the latest clashes between government forces and rebels in that region have been causing residents to leave, even as people were beginning to return to their areas of origin.

“The population was already returning to the village, but fear is back. Some are leaving again,” one village resident said.

The Nova Zambézia village is located on National Road No.380, almost 250 kilometres from Pemba, the provincial capital.

Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed insurgency for five years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with the support of Rwanda and SADC, liberating districts next to the gas projects, but new waves of attacks have appeared in the south of the region and in the neighbouring province of Nampula.

The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Source: Lusa