Mozambique: Population finds remains of supposed attack victims in Cabo Delgado
Namaluco: Another village attacked in Cabo Delgado – AIM report
10:28 CAT | 07 Jun 2018
Unidentified armed men, believed to be islamic fundamentalists, killed five people on Wednesday night in an attack against the village of Namaluco, in Quissanga district, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
According to the independent television station STV, the attack took place at about 21.00. Two other villagers were injured and the raiders burnt down 50 houses. They also vandalised the local health post.
Quissanga is the fifth district to come under attack in the jihadist insurgency, after Mocimboa da Praia, Palma, Nangade and Macomia.
Villagers said the attacking group was large and heavily armed. Unlike in previous raids, the attackers were accompanied by women and children.
Cited by STV, the Cabo Delgado provincial governor, Julio Parruque, said the authorities are redoubling their efforts to guarantee the security of the population. “It is our responsibility to respond to the incursions by these criminals, and it is a challenge which must not endanger the normal life of our province”, he declared.
Meanwhile, STV footage from Nacate village in Macomia shows hundreds of people of all ages fleeing from the area. Nacate is not one of the villages attacked, but in another Macomia village, Naunde, seven people were killed and 164 houses were burnt down on Monday night.
The exodus of panic-stricken villagers is now taking on alarming proportions, particularly as they are abandoning crops in the fields before they can be harvested. Radio Mozambique reports fears that the security situation may lead, in the near future, to pockets of hunger in Palma.
Parruque visited Palma on Tuesday, and a message from the local population warned him that the movements of unknown armed men in the district are causing insecurity that affects agricultural production.
“In our area, there is low production because people are afraid to go to their fields”, said the message. “With this situation, we predict a lot of hunger, because the people are not producing as they usually do”.
In response, Parruque asked the public to keep calm and to remain committed to increasing production and productivity.
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