- Community members stormed the company’s premises and killed two police officers assigned to the Gemfields subsidiary’s security
- The company suspects the attackers are part of an illegal mining syndicate operating in the area
By MOZTIMES
Pemba (MOZTIMES) – Two police officers were shot dead on Wednesday at the premises of Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), the world’s largest ruby producer, located in southern Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique.
The killings occurred during an invasion of the MRM compound by members of the local community who were reportedly reacting to police violence in a nearby village.
According to local sources, the conflict began on Wednesday when Montepuez District Migration Services carried out an operation in Nsewe village aimed at detaining foreign nationals suspected of involvement in illegal mining. During the operation, security forces fatally shot a community member. In response, residents marched to the MRM site, a company holding a 35,000-hectare concession for ruby extraction. The mine, the largest of its kind in the world, is 75% owned by London-based Gemfields.
Around 10 a.m. the same day, a group of more than 40 people gathered in front of the MRM’s main gate, carrying the body of the man shot by police. The crowd forced its way into the concession, overpowered two police officers stationed there for security, and seized their weapons. According to company sources, one of the intruders, showing clear familiarity with firearms, fatally shot Elísio Selemane, an officer with the Natural Resources Protection Force, and then Renato Agostinho, a member of the Rapid Intervention Force. Both officers died at the scene.
After the attack, the group fled back towards Nsewe village, taking with them the officers’ weapons. Reinforcement teams and an ambulance from the company later arrived, but it was too late to provide medical assistance.
Sources within MRM confirmed to MOZTIMES that the entire incident was recorded by the company’s surveillance drones. In a statement issued on Thursday, MRM said that although the incident may initially appear to have been a popular protest, evidence points to a coordinated action possibly linked to illegal mining networks.
“The presence of armed and trained individuals infiltrated among the population reinforces the likelihood of an organised criminal group, with both the capacity and intent to attack even uniformed law enforcement officers,” reads an internal company document seen by MOZTIMES.
Violence within the MRM mining concession is frequent, and there are suspicions that illegal miners are financed by transnational organised crime networks. (MT)
