Mozambique: Mocímboa da Praia not completely safe yet – O País

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Mozambique: Mocímboa da Praia not completely safe yet – O País

7:45 CAT | 13 Aug 2021

Photo: O País

The town of Mocímboa da Praia is completely destroyed, and the military says that there is still not the security needed for a return to normal. That will take time, since no public or private infrastructure was spared by the terrorists. Cargo trucks, and even the merchandise inside the containers – everything was burned.

What was once a busy town and with a dynamic economy driven by the port, fishing, general trade and agriculture is today reduced to rubble.

As if to demonstrate the affront to the sovereignty of the Mozambican state, the terrorists destroyed buildings where the main public services operated, such as the Judicial Court. The residence of the local administrator was also burned down.

Guarded by the Rwandan force, the ‘O País’ reporting team went to the mayor’s recently built official residence, to find only destruction.

The banks did not escape the fury of the evildoers, who tore down the BCI branch and burned the Millennium Bim branch.

Bus terminals and buses were reduced to ashes; shops, stalls and even people’s homes were not spared.

The Defence and Security Forces (FDS) and Rwandan troops now have full control of the town, but consider it too early for the population to return. In raids carried out in the town, they have found war material used by the terrorists and military manuals used to train recruits.

One of the documents found is a map of Palma town, with details of FDS positions, used to prepare last March’s attack on Palma.

Airport non-operational

Technicians from the company Aeroportos de Moçambique arrived on Wednesday (August 11) to assess the possibility of restoring capacity, but found no air navigation support equipment remaining.

Air traffic controller André Alberto was assigned to Mocímboa da Praia Airport in 2011. A month and a half before the occupation of the town, he was transferred to Pemba, but this Wednesday he returned to the place he worked for nine years. He climbed to the tower and saw up close that the equipment he had helped to assemble had been consumed by fires set by the terrorists.

In 2019, the airport had been fully rehabilitated and re-equipped with modern instruments making it capable of receiving flights from neighbouring countries. Alberto followed the process closely. One of the colleagues who replaced him in Mocimboa survived the attacks.

Aberto finds it difficult to believe that the instruments acquired at such expense had disappeared in a flash.

Despite the scenario described, the infrastructure is now being used to support military operations.

Soldier who survived returns

In Mocimboa da Praia, ‘O País’ found a soldier who was one of the last to leave the town on July 27, 2020. He says that the FDS military were not without the courage and bravery to prevent the occupation; what was lacking was the logistics.

Charged at the time with shepherding the Mocímboa da Praia administrator to safety, he returns a year later to where he was deployed four years ago. The soldiers stationed in Mocimboa did their best to prevent it being occupied by the insurgents, he says.

Now, he returns to Mocímboa da Praia, his morale improved, and willing to continue to give his best to ensuring that the population can return to their home areas and live without fear of a possible new attack.

With the support of Rwandan forces, the FADM is now seeking to expand the security perimeter around Mocimboa da Praia.

By Francisco Mandalate

Source: O País