An alleged terrorist was shot dead inside his residence in the district capital town of Macomia, located in the central region of the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, an official source told Lusa today. According to the source, the suspect was killed at around 23:00 local time on Thursday by unknown individuals inside his home in the Napuluboxon neighborhood, after he refused to follow the suspect group on an alleged incursion into the bush.
“When the group arrived, they were demanding that he follow them into the forest to go fulfill his obligations, although I do not know which ones, and then, due to his reluctance, they ended up fatally shooting him in the chest area,” the source described.
The situation generated widespread fear in that neighborhood, leading the population to call for the intervention of authorities, namely the Defense and Security Forces, amid suspicions that the perpetrators are elements of terrorist groups circulating in the region who left the neighborhood before the arrival of the military.
“That generated fear, the Defense and Security Forces went there, but the wrongdoers were no longer present,” the source stated. The gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been the target of extremist attacks for eight years, with the very first attack registered on October 5, 2017, in the district of Mocímboa da Praia.
Read more about this topic: Mozambique: Another 26 killed in Cabo Delgado
The ACLED organization recorded ten violent events over the last two weeks in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, nine of which involved Islamic State extremists and resulted in 26 deaths, raising the total number of fatalities linked to the conflict to 6,570 since 2017, as reported by Lusa on Thursday.
According to the latest data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), covering May 4 to 17, a total of 2,384 violent events have occurred since the start of the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado, with 2,203 involving elements associated with Islamic State Mozambique (ISM).
In the report covering this two-week period, it is noted that a group of ISM fighters moved south through the Ancuabe district and entered Chiúre. It adds that despite the Mozambican and Rwandan armies maintaining bases in Ancuabe, the only active resistance encountered by the group came from local residents and elements of the local Naparama militias, none of whom possess any firearms.
“Other ISM elements remain active further north, having successfully used an improvised explosive device against a convoy of the Armed Defense Forces of Mozambique (FADM) in Macomia, and are also present in southern Mocímboa da Praia,” the text reads. “At sea, fishermen and traders continue to face a double threat—both from the insurgents and from the navy, which extorts money from civilian vessel operators.”
Read more about this topic: Mozambique seeks Uganda’s help to combat terrorists in Cabo Delgado (with video)
As a direct result of this sudden movement, more than 13,000 people abandoned their homes in the Ancuabe district alone up to May 12, according to data compiled by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “A number that has, almost certainly, increased significantly since then,” ACLED adds.
The organization reports that during this specific movement toward Chiúre, these elements arrived at the village of Messanja on May 17, where they once again set fire to houses and a local church, entering into a direct clash with Naparama paramilitaries. On its official propaganda channels, the Islamic State claimed to have killed 26 Naparama fighters, but local sources report that civilians, upon seeing that the insurgents were running out of ammunition, pursued them.
“One source stated that 12 insurgents were killed, while another reported that two Naparamas died and nine were injured,” ACLED notes.
