At least six people have been killed since Saturday in a new wave of armed attacks in northern Mozambique and fighting continues, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced today.
“Six citizens were beheaded, three kidnapped and dozens of houses burned”he said in the city of Xai-Xai, during the speech alluding to Victory Day, a holiday that is commemorated this Wednesday and that celebrates the country’s independence agreements.
Filipe Nyusi confirmed the complaints made since Saturday by the population and local authorities about attacks in the districts of Ancuabe and Chiúre, in the province of Cabo Delgado, and the district of Eráti, in the province of Nampula.
The head of state also confirmed “fights” during the night of yesterday (Tuesday) in Chipende, Memba district, without further details.
A source from the congregation of the Comboni Sisters in Italy announced today that an Italian nun was killed during an attack on the Catholic mission in Chipende, in the extreme north of the area that is part of the diocese of Nacala.
It is an area near the Lúrio River, a natural border between the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula.
According to Filipe Nyusi, the new wave of violence comes after the Mozambican Defense and Security Forces (FDS) seized a terrorist base in the Ancuabe district.
It was the base where the armed groups “had taken refuge after being evicted from towns and villages” that are now in the hands of government forces, he said in today’s speech.
After taking the base, the rebels will have dispersed into smaller groups, of five and 15 members, towards areas south of the Montepuez and Lúrio rivers, where they “try to recruit” new members.
“They are being followed” and “they are nervous,” he added, referring to the fact that they leave a trail of destruction and death.
Filipe Nyusi stressed that there are ongoing combats and other operations by the SDF and announced the handover of more than 40 suspects of involvement in armed violence in Palma, Mocímboa da Praia and Pemba.
In this batch there are people who surrendered, being “protected and collaborating.”
“At any time they may be returned to their communities” of origin, “to the coexistence of their respective families,” he added.
The head of state also highlighted the arrest of a recruiter in Mogincual, a coastal district of Nampula province, who already had a group of 16 young people “ready to join the ranks” of the insurgency.
Some points in the extreme north of the province of Nampula, together 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 terrorized since 2017 by armed violence, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
The insurgency led a year ago to a military response by Rwandan forces and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts close to gas projects, but provoking a new wave of attacks in other areas, closer to Pemba, provincial capital.
There are some 800,000 internally displaced persons due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and some 4,000 dead, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.
Source: TSF
