Mozambique: President warns of ‘other forms of destabilisation’ in Cabo Delgado

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Mozambique: President warns of ‘other forms of destabilisation’ in Cabo Delgado

1:15 CAT | 28 Jan 2024

Photo: Presidente Filipe Nyusi /Facebook

Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi on Friday visited a Rapid Intervention Force (FIR) position in Metuge district, Cabo Delgado province, which has been ravaged by armed groups, acknowledging that terrorists are now trying “other forms of destabilisation”.

In a message posted this Friday afternoon on his official Facebook account, Filipe Nyusi explains that on this visit, which was not announced in advance, he greeted, “through dialogue with members of the police”, all the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) engaged in the northern theatre of operations (TON).

“In my tribute to the FDS engaged in TON, I praised the exemplary work carried out by these valiant sons of the nation in favour of peace, security and the integrity of our country, through their commitment to fighting terrorism. The spirit of our FDS remains resilient, despite the fact that the terrorists are trying other forms of destabilisation, caused by the desperation of seeing our brave Forces fall back, but our FDS are very firm and courageously committed to the defence of the homeland and our sovereignty,” reads the message.

On Thursday, the Mozambican president met with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, a country that has a contingent in Cabo Delgado involved in the fight against the insurgents.

According to information from the Presidency of the Republic of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi’s “working visit” to Kigali took place over a few hours, at the invitation of his Rwandan counterpart, to “address issues of bilateral cooperation”.

On Wednesday, the district administrator of Quissanga, in Cabo Delgado province, Sidónio Lindo José, confirmed that terrorist groups are on the move in the communities closest to the district headquarters, but he hopes for a return to normality.

The administrator said he had met with the leaders of the three villages where terrorists have been present since Sunday, which precipitated the flight of local residents, with Mussomero being the closest village to the district headquarters, six kilometres away.

“We’ve talked to the leaders, the people who had gone into hiding have returned, trade is flowing and we’ve been interacting with the local leaders to calm down the public,” said Sidónio Lindo José.

The leader guaranteed that the passage of the terrorists through the three villages did not cause any human or material damage.

“They didn’t harm any members of the public, they just passed through the communities we’ve just mentioned and continued on to the bridge over the river Montepuez. We had no news of the route they took last night [Tuesday],” he concluded.

Dozens of inhabitants in villages in the Quissanga district, in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, have fled in the face of the proximity of terrorist groups since Sunday, local sources told Lusa.

On Sunday night, at around 19:00 (17:00 Lisbon time), the terrorists stayed overnight in the village of Missone, forcing some people to flee into the woods for fear of further attacks.

People from Mucojo also told Lusa on Monday that the administrative post has been controlled by a group of terrorists since Sunday.

Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed insurgency for six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, which has led to a military response since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects.

The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and caused around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Source: Lusa