Mozambique: Military ambush suspected insurgents, kill seven

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Mozambique: Military ambush suspected insurgents, kill seven

7:00 CAT | 24 Mar 2025

File photo: Lusa

The Mozambican defence and security forces (FDS) have shot dead seven suspected terrorists in the village of Nguida, Macomia district, around 200 kilometres from the city of Pemba, Cabo Delgado province, a paramilitary source said on Friday.

A source from the Local Force, paramilitaries that support the armed forces in the fight against terrorists in Cabo Delgado, explained to Lusa that the insurgents fell into an ambush prepared by the FDS, near a well where they were drinking water.

“They knew they were coming and they went to ambush the well (…) on the battlefield seven died,” reported the source, from the district of Meluco.

He added that several rebels were also wounded, without specifying the number, during the ambush, which took place last Friday, and that the situation is currently under control: ‘The situation is calm, we can consider that.’

Since October 2017, gas-rich Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion, which has caused thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people displaced.

In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in the province, an increase of 36% on the previous year, according to data recently released by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the US Department of Defence that analyses conflicts in Africa.

The last major attack took place on 10 and 11 May on the district headquarters of Macomia, with around a hundred rebels sacking the town, causing several deaths and heavy fighting with the Mozambique defence and security forces and the Rwandan military, who are supporting Mozambique in the fight against armed attacks.

Source: Lusa