Mozambique: Terrorism cannot be allowed to spread – president

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Mozambique: Terrorism cannot be allowed to spread – president

7:19 CAT | 09 Sep 2022

File - For illustration purposes only. Chipene mission, Memba district, Nampula province. [Image: Voz de Cabo Delgado]

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said on Thursday today that the country must prevent the expansion of armed groups into more provinces, noting that “terrorism has no borders, it has no headquarters”.

“It [terrorism] is there in Nampula province [after it started in Cabo Delgado province], what is needed is to control” the phenomenon, said Nyusi, in statements to journalists.

The president was speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of an agricultural enterprise in southern Mozambique.

Referring to the recent armed attacks in Nampula province, Filipe Nyusi said that the insurgency that began its actions five years ago in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado (north of the country) is now trying to “migrate” to other areas of the country.

“They have migrated, spread out in small groups and are trying to go to Nampula”, he said.

The rebels, he continued, are trying to recruit children and young people to spread their actions, but some recruiters have been captured by the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces.

Armed groups “have to signal that they exist, that’s what terrorism is, to prove that there is no border, there are no barracks,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Mozambican head of state said that at least six people had been killed since Saturday in a new wave of armed attacks in northern Mozambique and fighting was ongoing.

“Six citizens were beheaded, three were kidnapped, and dozens of houses were set on fire,” he said in the city of Xai-Xai, during the speech alluding to Victory Day.

Filipe Nyusi confirmed the reports made by the inhabitants and local authorities since Saturday about attacks in the districts of Ancuabe and Chiúre in Cabo Delgado province and Eráti district in Nampula province.

Without further details, he also confirmed “fighting” last night (Tuesday) in Chipene, Memba district.

Some points in the extreme north of Nampula province, along with Cabo Delgado, are the scene of instability caused by the presence of armed groups.

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

The insurgency led to a military response a year ago by Rwandan and Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces, liberating districts next to the gas projects but leading to a new wave of attacks in other areas closer to Pemba, the provincial capital.

There are about 800,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registry project.

Source: Lusa