Mozambique: Police announce rescue of 21 people kidnapped by rebels in Cabo Delgado

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Mozambique: Police announce rescue of 21 people kidnapped by rebels in Cabo Delgado

7:42 CAT | 13 Jan 2021

Photo: Miramar

The Mozambican police on Wednesday announced the rescue of 21 people who had been kidnapped from Matemo Island by rebels who have been attacking Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique.

The defence and security forces (FDS) made the rescue by air, isolating the hostages from the terrorists, the commander-general of the police, Bernardino Rafael told the media.

According to the authorities, 15 women and six children had been kidnapped during an insurgent attack on Matemo Island on 6 June and transported by insurgent boats to another region of the province.

“They will return to their community in Matemo, which is now free of any terrorist threat,” he said.

Without going into details, on Monday he said that the FDS had managed to frustrate four attempts by the insurgent groups to occupy Matemo Island.

“We came to say thank you very much for the resistance of the residents. Continue to embrace your FDS in defence of that island,” Bernardino Rafael said at the time.

For more details, watch the TV Miramar report below.

The armed violence in Cabo Delgado, where the largest private multinational investment in Africa is taking place, for the exploitation of natural gas, began three years ago and is causing a humanitarian crisis with more than 2,000 deaths and 560,000 displaced people, without housing or food, concentrated mainly in the provincial capital, Pemba.

Some of the incursions have been claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group since 2019.

Source: Lusa / Miramar