Police do not confirm authenticity of ‘terrorist’ video calling for violence – Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Police do not confirm authenticity of ‘terrorist’ video calling for violence – Mozambique

9:55 CAT | 31 Jan 2018

Youtube / Still image

Members of a supposed extremist group, faces covered and weapons in hand, are portrayed in a video circulating on social networks, which calls on Mozambicans to join it in the fight against what it considers perverted Islamic doctrine.

The General Command of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) says it has seen the video in question and analysed its content but stops short of confirming its authenticity or identifying those appearing in it.

One of the six individuals appearing in the video, in civilian clothing and apparently in a forest, explains in Portuguese that the attacks in Mocímboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado province were aimed at establishing principles of life based on the Qur’an.

He urges people to join the group in “fighting the devil”, and all things that supposedly go against the fundamentals of the Qur’an.

The content of the video suggests to the viewer a connection with the attacks of 13th and 15th of this month in the Palma and Nangade districts of Cabo Delgado province. Seven people, including a health worker, died in the attacks attributed to a group of armed men whose origin is still unknown.

PRM’s General Command spokesman Inacio Dina told reporters on Tuesday (30 January) that “in relation to the video that is circulating on social networks, supposedly from a group that, at some point” caused riots in Cabo Delgado …, “the police do not confirm its authenticity, nor the origin of the same, much less the identity of the people who appear in the same video”.

Dina appealed to “all citizens to remain vigilant and cautious in relation to social networks”, asserting that they did not only serve a useful purpose, but could also “be used to confuse public opinion”.

“Social networks are a platform” that malicious people could use to “manipulate public opinion,” he said.

According to Dina, “at this moment, the situation in Cabo Delgado [specifically in Mocímboa da Praia, Palma and Nangade] remains under control. Defence and Security Forces are on the ground doing their job, which is to restore public order”.

At the same briefing, the police reported that from 20 to 26 January it seized nine firearms, including two AK-47s, an equal number of pistols, and ammunition. The seizures occurred across Cabo Delgado, Zambézia, Tete, Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo provinces.

Source: A Verdade