Mozambique: 300 terrorists have surrendered to authorities in Mocímboa da Praia recently - report
Mozambique: Locals flee into woods as insurgents pass nearby
12:10 CAT | 19 Jun 2024
Image: Google Maps
Residents of Mazeze administrative post in Cabo Delgado took refuge in the forests last night after a group of armed insurgents passed nearby, local sources have told Lusa.
Events unfurled at around 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, when the group passed through the communities of Somas and Nimanro in Chiúre district, in the south of the province.
“Everything was fine until, at about 5:00 p.m., strange men passed by just a few metres from the village. A child saw them and ran to warn us,” a member of the public told Lusa, from Chiúre. “My parents slept in the woods.”
Similarly, in Nimanro, also in Mazeze, a group of men, most of them carrying firearms, was seen passing a few hundred metres from the village, precipitating the residents’ fleeing into the bush.
“In Nimanro, a mother left a young child out of fear, but nothing bad happened,” another source reported.
The passage of the alleged insurgents through the villages of Mazeze did not cause any harm to residents or damage, but left the population alarmed.
“So far there is no talk of deaths, but it is sad, the population is going through bad times,” another source lamented.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado has faced an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist Islamic State group.
The last major attack took place in May of this year, on the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred insurgents looting the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambique Defence and Security Forces.
Residents in other districts of the province have reported the movement of these groups of insurgents, who cause panic as they pass in the forests, especially at a time when peasants are trying to harvest crops from their cultivation plots.
The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, stated on Sunday that the various defence forces had eliminated “practically all” the bases of terrorist groups operating in Cabo Delgado, who are now limited to “wandering around in the bush”.
“The result of this combination of forces is surprising. They managed to disable the terrorists in all the towns and villages that had been occupied, destroyed practically all of the enemy’s fixed bases, turning them into nomads, and put many violent extremists out of combat, including some of their main leaders,” President Nyusi declared in Mueda, Cabo Delgado province, this Sunday (16-06).
The head of state recognized the efforts of the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces, together with the Rwandan military, the mission from southern African countries (SAMIM) and the Local Force of former national liberation struggle combatants in combating these groups in the last six years.
“They are out there in the bush, but they no longer stay in one place because they are afraid of being found,” the president said of the insurgent groups still active in some districts of Cabo Delgado province.
READ: Mozambique: Insurgents forced back to “wander in bush” – Watch
Mozambique: Nyusi claims terrorists expelled from district capitals – AIM
Source: Lusa
Show comments
Also read
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.