Mozambique: More than 1,500 return home, as village once held by terrorists comes back to life

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Mozambique: More than 1,500 return home, as village once held by terrorists comes back to life

9:55 CAT | 10 May 2022

FILE - For illustration purposes only. Awasse is located in Mocimboa da Praia district. [File photo: VOA Português]

The police commander in Cabo Delgado, Vicente Chicote, announced on Monday the return home of about 1,500 people living in the interior of the Mozambican province, in an area until now deserted because of the armed insurgency.

“In the last week alone, we received more than 1,500 people who were living in a reception centre and have returned to the village of Awasse [in Mocímboa da Praia district]. We also received people from Palma who have returned to the main town of Mocímboa da Praia,” he said at a public ceremony in Pemba, the provincial capital.

Awasse is located at a crossroads that gives access to the districts located further north, namely Mueda, Mocímboa da Praia and Palma.

The insurgency turned Awasse into a forbidden place, a ghost village, vandalised by armed groups, a place that the police say is now coming back to life.

ALSO READ: Mozambique: FDS consolidates occupation of terrorist base in Awasse, with Rwandan troops support – Watch

Despite signs of improvement in security conditions in Mocímboa da Praia and Palma, the police commander in Cabo Delgado expressed concern that there are still occasional attacks in Macomia and Nangade districts.

“We continue to work until the last stronghold of the enemy, which at this moment is located in Macomia and Nangade, we will work until the last terrorist is eliminated,” he added.

Vicente Chicote also appealed to border guards to tighten their vigilance so as not to allow suspects to cross the line that separates Mozambique from Tanzania, along the Rovuma River.

“Let’s avoid enabling the entry of people near the borders. Some people, when they enter, suffocate local residents,” he said.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

There are 784,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has allowed areas where there was a rebel presence to recover, but their flight has provoked new attacks in other districts used as passage or temporary refuge.

Source: Lusa