Palma a ghost town; situation is again an open question – Media Fax

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Palma a ghost town; situation is again an open question – Media Fax

2:10 CAT | 29 Apr 2021

Photo: Pinnacle News

After the terrorists left the town of Palma earlier this month, and the subsequent charm offensive by the Defence and Security Forces (FDS), the real situation on the ground in the town is again open to question, Media Fax reports. this Thursday.

At issue is the daily reality of shootings and residences being set on fire, and the few people who were trying to return reversing direction. They are, again, leaving the town for Quitunda, or any other place considered relatively safe.

Those fleeing have questions about what is actually happening in the town, and in the absence of objective answers, the only certainty that people have managed to construct from what they observe every day, is that safe conditions for any return to Palma are absent.

For example, as on previous days, Tuesday night saw several shootings and many houses were set on fire.
“Advance notice” having been circulated locally advising “everyone to leave”, the displaced people who left by boat before nightfall could see flames in the town – homes and other infrastructure burning. More particularly, they report seeing a mosque near the beach go up in flames.

Other refugees who managed to reach safety in Quitunda and Nangade, speak of insurgents moving through the town without firing shots, some even unarmed.

What is not known, exactly, is whether the ‘confusion’ that started with sporadic shootings at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday was a terrorist attack or action by the FDS.

“They entered Palma at 8:00 p.m., and started destroying things. First they gave notice that everyone should leave by 3:00 p.m.. At 8:00 p.m. they started burning houses, but without shooting,” one of the displaced who managed to reach Quitunda said.

Victims there are facing the worst moments of their lives, taking into account that the government practically disappeared, leaving people solely and exclusively dependent on the support of people of good will.

Private support, from national and international organizations and the United Nations, includes the evacuation of the most needy, such as sick persons, pregnant women, children and the elderly, particularly for medical assistance, taking into account the outbreak of diseases in Quitunda, at a time when there is practically no state medical assistance.

Regarding the burning of homes in recent days, Pinnacle News reported, citing local sources, episodes in which elements of the FDS were caught by former [liberation struggle] combatants setting people’s homes on fire. The veterans reported the FDS activities to their superiors, and the issue is said to have been dealt with between them and the heads of the FDS.

On Monday, just over 60 people arrived in the village of Nangade from Palma, reporting scenes of horror from their exodus.