By MOZTIMES
Pemba (MOZTIMES) – Residents are reporting renewed insurgent activity in Mocímboa da Praia district, including incidents recorded in a neighbourhood of the district capital and on islands off the coast.
On Saturday afternoon, 24 January, insurgents abducted a boy in the Filipe Nyusi neighbourhood, a peripheral area of Mocímboa da Praia town.
According to local sources, Islamist militants entered the neighbourhood with the intention of locating and killing the victim’s father, a member of the Maconde Local Force militia. Having failed to find their intended target, they instead abducted his underage son.
So far, there is no information on the victim’s whereabouts, nor on any operations under way to secure his release.
The Filipe Nyusi neighbourhood is inhabited predominantly by a Christian population from the Maconde ethnic group, inside a town which historically has been largely inhabited by Muslims from the Mwani ethnic group. In September last year, the same neighbourhood was targeted on two occasions by selective attacks on the homes of Maconde families. In both attacks, more than 10 people were killed inside their own houses.
These incidents marked the resumption of attacks within the perimeter of the district capital, since Rwandan troops expelled insurgents from the town in August 2021. In the aftermath of those attacks, thousands of residents fled the town to seek refuge in Mueda district.
Presence of insurgents on the islands
Since last Tuesday, the presence of insurgents has been reported on islands off the coast of Mocímboa da Praia. Local sources say that a group of militants travelled, in the early hours of Tuesday, 20 January, to Quifuque Island, using a fishing vessel seized from local fishermen.
The insurgents transported a significant quantity of basic goods with the intention of selling them on the island, which lies about 18 nautical miles off the coast. On arrival, they encountered fishermen and other residents, but no acts of extreme violence against the population were reported. This is interpreted as part of a strategy of peaceful engagement with coastal communities aimed at securing local support.
“My brother was there on the islands fishing malhação (night fishing), and he and his colleagues were taken off their boat by the insurgents. They only managed to return to the district capital yesterday, coming from the island,” a resident of Mocímboa da Praia told MOZTIMES.
Meanwhile, a report by Mozanorte, a publication that covers developments in northern Mozambique, states that last Friday the islands of Muissune and Quifuque, in Mocímboa da Praia district, were targeted by insurgent incursions. During these attacks, goods belonging to the local population were looted and fishermen were abducted, with payments of 50,000 meticais demanded for the release of each victim.
So far, there has been no intervention by Mozambican government or Rwandan forces to dislodge the insurgents from the islands. Both forces face operational constraints in the maritime domain, and lack adequate capacity for counter-insurgency operations in island environments.
The vessels used by both the Rwandan forces and the Mozambican Navy are primarily intended for coastal patrols and lack the range and autonomy required for sustained pursuit operations around the islands, where insurgents have a strong advantage due to their detailed knowledge of the terrain. (MT)
